


(I Can't) Forget About You

by Pulchritudinem



Category: Naruto
Genre: Bromance, But for now I guess you're all getting some really awkard "no homo bro" times, I mean like you-ain't-getting-anything-really-spicy-'till-the-sequel kind of freakish slow burn, M/M, Not sure how far I'll take it since I do plan on making a sequel, ReeeeaaaaaaAAAAAAALLY slow burn, SasuNaruSasu - Freeform, and sasuke and naruto dancing around eachother, but mostly just sasuke being a dweeb not understanding what feelings are, for now anyway
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-12
Updated: 2016-05-06
Packaged: 2018-04-04 02:33:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 49,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4122703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pulchritudinem/pseuds/Pulchritudinem
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sasuke Uchiha, lead singer of the band, "The Avengers", crazy popular idol and part-time model, ends up going on a trip to Tokyo to film a shoot for their new hit single. During their stay though, Sasuke and the gang end up getting completely wasted, leaving them utterly confused and quite frankly...in weird places. Great, that hobo was totally wearing his jacket, wasn't he?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue|Pikachu, use body slam!

“Run, man! _RUN!!”_ Kiba yelled, laughing as he bolted out the doors of their school, the Akimichi and the Nara following close behind.

“This is so lame. Why did I bother to do this again?” A boy with his hair pulled back into a spiky pony tail grumbled.

“Because it’d be _fun_.” The brunette with red tattoos on his face droned back, as if it was dead obvious what his reasons had been for. “Now hurry up! We still gotta go find the boss and give him a status report!”

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. “Is that what we’re calling him now?”

“Problem?” Kiba growled back to the lazy teen behind him.

“Not really.” The man frowned back.

Behind the trio, a fuming principal clutched a very conspicuous looking kitty cuddle toy that had permanent sharpie marks all over it. Not a second after they had managed to make it past the parking lot did they hear the man yell out in a fury with an aura of complete vengeance resonating from his hysterical cries.

“GYAAAAAAAH! MR. WHISKERS!! WHO WOULD DARE DO SUCH A THING TO SUCH A SWEET AND INNOCENT KITTEN?!? YOU WILL BE AVENGED, MR WHISKERS!! YOU WILL BE **_AVENGED!!!”_**

Kiba sniggered at this. “The guy’s a total cat worshipper!”

Chouji managed to stifle a laugh of his own as they hailed a cab and paid the man to drive over twice the speed limit to their record label. No one could refuse the god-like luminaries. It was like refusing Osama bin Laden from getting a massage at his favourite spa. Err, well maybe not exactly sense it wasn’t like the gang would bomb your house if you did, but they would probably convince you one way or another. With them you just never knew, their just initiated prank being proof of this theory. So with a small bead of sweat making its way down the driver’s cheek at the very familiar presence, he nodded dejectedly before stepping on the gas pedal and driving the fastest he was able to while still being considered legal in terms of celebrity pride. He didn’t need the extra pressure on his tired middle-aged body and quite frankly, was wondering if he should retire early. These runaway encounters with these famous figures were getting out of hand. He was going to get caught eventually, and he didn’t think his almost dead self could take it anymore. Not to mention the strain his heart had to endure every single time he had to drive over the speed limit. Not long ago was he involved in a car chase between the Hyuuga’s and Inuzuka’s. From what he could gather, the young heir of the Hyuuga household was caught conversing with Kiba of the Inuzuka family. Shortly after, it looked as if Lady Hinata had managed to be suckered into drinking something with a mild alcohol content without even knowing, leading to a group of drunken Inuzuka’s, some Aburame’s, and a Hyuuga actress, who couldn’t hold her liquor for shit, stumbling into a cab where soon after, _the_ Hyuuga Hiashi _and_ Hyuuga Neji, A.K.A., guardian of Lady Hinata, came onto the scene, swinging into his cab like Batman and Robin, asking for him to step on it while practically hurling thrice the amount of doe necessary for a standard ride to justify extra expenses.

It was car beeps, screeching wheels, and police sirens everywhere and he felt like just rolling out and giving in to his much too eventful life in place for peaceful death.

The life of a cabby is tough indeed.

A few minutes later as the three silently enjoyed their victory, or well, maybe not so silently if one included the dog loving freak in their bunch that was the master mind behind the whole thing, they managed to get to their destination in one piece. Patting the chauffeur on the shoulder roughly, Kiba yelled a thanks to the man who by now had gotten used to seeing them. Only, it apparently didn’t go around the same since the brunette trailed off in the middle by letting his thanks hang on the same note for a few seconds to indicate that he had no idea what the old man’s name even was.

With a sigh, the man reminded him for the fiftieth time, if he counted correctly, that his name was Sabu. With a sheepish grin and apology from the tattooed teen, the cabby relaxed. God, he knew he should’ve just stuck to his singing career instead. Screw driving around celebrities, he was going to die! Besides, weren’t they supposed to be rich enough to afford their own personal drivers in their own fancy limousines and such? Jesus Christ was he confused! If it was so hard to dial a number for their own rides, they really needed to work something out! _Seriously!_

Bah! He was just getting too old for all this crap. He was bound to die soon anyway. So much for a long-lived and peaceful life.

“So how’d it go?” a low, smooth and quiet voice asked. The figure that had been lying on the lime green sofa slowly pushed himself upward to place an arm over his now propped up knee. Sparing them a look and an amused cock of his eye brow, he hummed. “Judging by the stupid grin on Kiba’s face, I take it rather went well.”

Kiba ignored the usual insult inflicted on him from their leader and laughed it off instead, not intending to let this man take his glorious moment away from him. “It was a total SUCCESS!” He gave him a thumbs up and a mischievous little cackle as he continued to grin like a madman.

Shikamaru just rubbed the back of his neck tiredly as he casually walked over to the table where he had left his spare ear buds, proceeding to jam them in his ears in his usual, oh-get-a-life manner. On the other hand, their so called “leader” actually managed to crack a small smile. Not an entirely _innocent_ smile, but a smile nonetheless.

Kiba followed Shikamaru’s lead and started to make his way to the other side of their built in second-home studio towards the entertainment area. “Dude, today’s a win! Who needs school and their binding laws anyways? Where are the rights, man? LET FREEDOM RIIIIIIING~!” He sang out jokingly.

Shikamaru turned over on his side from the large alligator plushie he was currently plopped over and gave Kiba a funny look. “So noisy.” He groaned annoyed. He chunked a Pikachu plushie at him with a surprising deadly accuracy that made Kiba yelp, unprepared from actually having something physically touch him when concerning Shikamaru’s laziness. He eyed it warily while picking it up and rubbing the back of his head solemnly.

“What the hell, man!?” He barked back once his normal vigor had returned.

Ignoring the idiot across the room, the dark-haired genius flopped over again to burrow his head into the alligator’s soft and cushiony back. His back rose up considerably as he breathed in deeply in bliss.

Seeing his chance, Kiba let an evil smirk widen on his lips as he aimed the unfortunate yellow mouse in his hand at the seemingly sleeping boy. He held back a snicker that was forcing its way up his throat as he launched his attack as silently as possible as to not attract attention. Not that it would matter all that much sense Shikamaru had raised the volume on his ear buds to the point where you could hear static even if you weren’t pressed up right next him.

As Kiba waited for his attack to land successfully on its target, the plushie’s trajectory went way off compared to where he had meant it to go, knocking the lamp next to the far corner right off its non-existing legs. There was a loud thump on carpet where mere seconds later, an amused “Pfft,” was muffled out of a large dark green alligator that had jerked up slightly, as if taunting Kiba’s failure.

Kiba growled back at it, realizing that it wasn’t the alligator who had laughed at him but Shikamaru. Glaring at the figure whose head was still smothered deep in the stuffed animal that was big enough to engulf the teen’s entire body, he snorted derisively. _I hope he suffocates on that blasted thing!_

Returning to his previous ministrations, the lively brunette fumbled through his video game collection. His anger dissipated quickly as he looked through all the boxes and its titles, happy that he was able to just get out of another day in hell from school. “Well, we’re gonna have to keep quiet until 2:30 sense we wouldn’t want to alert Kakashi or anything. After all, you know how he gets when we skip. I swear, that guy’s like a nagging mother! Not that he’s any scarier than my real mom. Now _THAT_ is a one scary woman!”

Just then, Kakashi seemingly materialized next to an excited Kiba, who had begun to power up the Wii for a match with Sasuke in Super Smash Bro.’s Brawl while simultaneously continuing to babble about trivial matters and about how is mom might as well be the scariest entity on the planet. Sasuke smirked as he calmly settled himself on one of the bean bags in front of the large flat screen TV while handling a remote in his hand. He watched in the corner of his eyes as the white-haired man opened his mouth to say something.

“Yo.” Came the usual stoic voice.

 _“GYAAAH!!”_ Kiba screeched as he heard the ghostly voice breath in his ear. He was almost one-hundred percent sure that there was something incredibly sinister about it too despite the deceivingly friendly tone it had been said in. After being assaulted for the second time by what he could tell from the corner of his eye anyways, a Squirtle stuffed toy this time, for his loudness, he then turned to see who it was with terror plastered onto his face, ignoring the object that had just bounced of his head perfectly with expertise. He near screamed like a woman as Kakashi blew out a “Boo,” grinning that not so uncommon one-eyed-curved-upward grin of his.

Successfully stopping the out of character laugh that threatened to escape from his pale lips, Kakashi decided not to wound Kiba’s manly pride any further. “So, what are you guys doing here so early back from school, hmm?” he asked pleasantly. A little _too_ pleasantly…

“Uhhhhh…” Kiba drawled out, unsure of what to say other than what was currently being stretched out of his vocal chords involuntarily.

“School caught on fire?” Sasuke teased, a smirk playing on his lips as he gave Kakashi a playful shrug of his shoulders.

“Oh! Oh! How about, the school’s on strike until the cafeteria offers better food?” Chouji perked up, whipping out his spoon from the cup of yogurt filled with Oreo bits it had been in not long ago only to have it point towards the group of men boldly.

Shikamaru yawned, rolling face up on the alligator while stretching like a cat on a hot summer day. “If we’re going to come up with scenarios on why we aren’t at school, how about something more believable, like school was cut short from an electrical outage that occurred when someone crashed their car into the main power source?” (1)

Sasuke hid a grin as he turned to Kakashi with blank eyes, a hint of glee wedged in them. “I take back what I said and vote on that one.”

  
Kiba was still too spooked out to speak, or coherently at least since he _did_ manage to continue to sputter like a chicken whose head had been cut off without itself knowing, and Chouji just nodded in agreement with Sasuke.

Kakashi visibly furrowed his eye brows at them while somehow still maintaining the calmest of smiles behind that white medic’s mask of his. “You guys…” he said in a dangerous tone, the killing intent in his voice practically dripping off his non-visible lips.  
Just then Kiba jumped up from his seat and hurled a pillow at him while bolting out the door. “Dammit Kakashi!! I’ll go back already! Geez! I was going to be back by the end of the lunch period anyway! I _swear!!”_

  
And with that, Kakashi was pleased. That was 89 to 54 victories in his favor. He kinda felt bad for taking the lead by such a long shot but then again, he wasn’t. After all, it _was_ fun.

And so, this is how high school life is for the rock stars.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (1) Okay, I shit you not,this fucking happened man. Like, I’m dead serious, and right smack on the principle’s and my best friend’s birthday too. It was hilarious.


	2. Snickers & Dead Goldfish

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING!: Yes, I understand that Sasuke is a little more playful than his canon self, I get it! BUT this isn't the ninja world and so I'd imagine things aren't at least as gruesome and also Sasuke isn't alone in this story, so I thought it would be a little more realistic to make him a little less cold hearted. Just a tad, because I love it when the guy smiles. Keep in mind though that his smiles aren't as big and bright as say, Naruto's, because that would be pretty OOC, so they're just little smirks and stuff, or just small innocent smiles.
> 
> Okay, so now that that's out of the way, (Oh don't you just love talking about Sasuke's smiles? Haha) Erm, enjoy? You'd better, anyway! Or else! Or else I'll...! Hold on, I'll think of something...
> 
> Oh! Almost Forgot! WARNING #2!: There's a LOT of cursing in this one! (Actually, there will ALWAYS probably be a lot of cursing) Kiba tends to have a way with words...

When a man gets hungry, he’s hungry, and there ain’t nothing to do but quench the beast inside, because if they didn’t, Sasuke would get a headache, Kiba would have an abnormally large bump somewhere on his head, Chouji would be pissed, and Shikamaru wouldn’t do a damned thing about it. And so, in the end, it was either Kiba’s way, or the violent way, which usually ended up with four hurled carcasses on the doorstep of Konaha Productions, which the head custodian did _not_ approve of.

“I’m _huuunngry!”_ The Inuzuka whined.

Without any verbal or physical indication that said that he might’ve been heard, the raven beside him continued to tap his pencil on the desk rhythmically. There was literally five more minutes before the bell rang at 2:30 and this idiot couldn’t shut his damn mouth until then. Apparently, he felt like burning what little calories he had left with his vocal cords instead. _Great._

_“Sasuke!”_

The dark-haired individual beside him growled in an undertone. “I am going to murder you.”

The brunette groaned. “That’s what you say _every_ single time!”

The raven snorted. “Then don’t push your luck, ‘cause you never know when I’ll comply. If I were you, I’d watch my back, and shut that annoying trap of yours.”

With a slight twitch of his brow, the starving individual groaned out. “Oh come _on_. I’m going to die at this rate anyways! And if you ever even dared to kill me, I’d just annoy you in the afterlife, day after day after day.”

This actually got him a reaction from the raven. He honestly knew that the brunette would do it, and he didn’t doubt him for a second that he wouldn’t, so imagining a situation where Kiba was a ghost and annoying the living hell out of him made him cringe, because if he was ghost, than he’d be screwed. I mean, how could one shut up a ghost? The odds didn’t look good in his favour. But if he _didn’t_ come back…then it’d totes be worth it.

Sasuke grinned sadistically to himself at the thought.

Kiba recoiled at the sight, smelling murder all around the Uchiha, but in all honesty, the thoughts going through his mind were purely of, _‘Peace and Quiet at last!’_

After what seemed to be like the three longest, most painful minutes of his entire life that were filled with pure torture, courtesy of his stomach, Kiba whaled out in exasperation. “ _Jesus Christ!_ Isn’t there _anything_ you have that I can munch on!?”

 _Shut up, Kiba!_ Is what the pale individual wanted to say, but instead, opted to keep quiet and maintain his calm demeanor. If he didn’t he might actually go on a killing spree right then and there, and then in the end, no one would win, because he’d have to go recruit someone else to fill in for the tattooed idiot, and that sounded like a waste of his damn time. Besides, if he couldn’t tolerate Kiba, then he doubted he could tolerate any other drummer.

His thoughts were interrupted by a pair of hungry chocolate eyes that threatened the existence of his pencil. _Oh, you have_ **got** _to be shitting me!_ The pale teen thought. _Hurry up, you stupid clock. Only sixty more seconds before I kill Kiba!!_

For crying out loud, the poor dope was drooling at his _pencil._

The dark haired individual tried sending him warning looks but the half-dead teen ignored his precautions, as if he didn’t even know the guy was there. And maybe he really didn’t. After some growling and what the raven believed might’ve been the brunette weighing the consequences of his ambitions, the bastard went off and did it.

_He actually did it._

_His **pencil!**_

Okay, someone was going to die today.

There was movement and some struggling and a chair scraping hard on the floor as it tumbled and skidded away from its former occupant when the bell rung and Kiba was flung over Sasuke’s shoulder, slamming hard into the glossy floor.

 _Ding Ding Ding! We have ourselves a winner!_ Thought the boy who was sitting not far from them with dull lifeless eyes. When Sasuke had thrown the brown haired idiot over him like the expertly trained martial arts genius he was, the bell ringing for dismissal seemed oddly justifying. It felt like it was ringing for the pale prince’s victory instead.

Not seeming to really think this himself as he was just glad this was all over, the slightly ticked raven huffed while patting his hands against his palms. The teacher looked over in surprise as did the rest of the disappearing students who were trying to make it out without running each other over.

“Boy, I know it’s the last class of the day, but don’t you guys overdo it every single time?” the older man cocked an eye brow, rolling his glasses down as if to make sure _they_ weren’t the reason for what he had just witnessed.

Sasuke twisted his neck over to look at his teacher with lackluster eyes as he stretched out his lower back while doing so. He sighed. _That was close. Not only that, but I was just about ready to murder the idiot. Saved by the damned bell… **again**._

“Well,” Sasuke droned on, turning his body completely to face him. “Kiba gets a little excited. You know how the kid is. He just can’t wait to skedaddle on out of here.”

Kiba groaned, regaining consciousness for what Sasuke couldn’t help but feel was too soon. “I can hear you, y’know…and I ain’t no kid, bastard…!” It was hard to take him seriously when the dog loving-freak was sprawled out onto the tiled floor like he’d just been smashed into the classroom from the window across the room by kidnappers who decided they wanted a refund.

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s go, _kid.”_ Sasuke grunted, bending down to lift Kiba over his shoulders. Once Kiba was thrown rather carelessly over the Uchiha’s taut but lean body, obviously with a lot of complaining and verbal resistance one might add, they headed out the door, a boy with his hair pulled back into a tight ponytail following annoyed as if it couldn’t make a damned difference to him, and his best friend, a boy with long spiky caramel hair, following suit, not really caring as long as it didn’t affect him or anything pertaining to his food. In fact, he seemed like he was rather enjoying himself.

When the click of the door closing shut confirmed that all of the boys had left, the elder man sighed, shaking his head as he fumbled with the papers in his hand. “Teenagers.”

 

* * *

 

As it was engraved into the future the moment the Uchiha had picked him up, Kiba put up quite the fight—that was until his stomach gurgled and he gave up, remembering just how fucking hungry he was. He was just about willing to eat _people_ at this point. And Sasuke, who was as cold hearted as a stiff bastard could be, sounded like the next best thing.

_I could just wipe him off the face of the earth, right? No one would care… **RIGHT?**_

As he thought about biting a chunk off the old ice prince’s flawless skin, which Kiba always wondered how he’d kept it so, he realized he was so out of it that his mouth wouldn’t even open for him to do it.

_Next time, dammit!! Next time for sure!!_

Kiba was just about ready to break down. “Sasu, my man! Can you please shove something down my throat?” he groaned between teeth.

The boy with ebony hair emitted a menacing sound from his chest that vibrated and tickled Kiba’s abdomen. “How about I shove my fist down your throat? Sound appealing to you?”

Kiba flopped over and gave up. “At this point, I don’t care anymore! Anything will do! Even my own teeth!”

Sasuke snorted. “Personally, I wouldn’t hesitate to take you up on that offer, but lucky you, our ride has just made its appearance.”

True to his word, a black limo was driving itself at the edge of the curb in front of the school, making many people look even though it was a daily thing for them. No one ever got tired of it, Sasuke supposed. They always stared in awe as if they wondered what life was like for the rock stars. Sasuke didn’t really think his life could be all that different from other people, so he didn’t bother with them when they asked.

Sasuke ignored a couple of flashes that popped in from the corner of his vision. Jesus Christ, weren’t they even smart enough to turn the damn flash off? It was freaken’ bright as fucking daylight could be today, and here these paparazzi’s, fans, and fellow students were taking photographs of him fucking carrying a fucking Kiba to their freaken’ car. But there they went with their stupid and obvious camera flashes! Agh! Whatever. They weren’t mobbing him to say the least.

He didn’t get what was so special about their crew anyway, and—shit, there goes another fangirl fainting on campus. Great, just what he needed. More girls’ fainting due to their own stupid fantasies, he guessed. Though he would never be able to understand how a girl could make everything seem so…romantic? When Sasuke was annoyed and taking Kiba back because he was just that damn hungry. That wasn’t in any way “cute”, or “sexy” in _his_ opinion. Honestly, **_how!?_**

Deciding that it was probably better not to know, he continued on his previous thoughts. If the principle asked, he had nothing to do with it. He’d swear it like he hadn’t seen it. And if that didn’t work, he’d throw the mutt at him to shut him up. That’d surely work, even if only to buy Sasuke time to tail it out of there. It just bothered him how people could treat them like total aliens when they weren’t all so different, that’s all. It irritated Sasuke to no end and he wished they would just all knock it off.

People just exaggerated everything. Yes, he made a little more money. He had nicer things probably too, but _he_ didn’t have a family, and most of them undoubtedly did. They probably were better off anyway. They didn’t have a _Kiba_ after all.

“Oh yeah, I’m living the life alright.” The shadowy haired male grumbled.

Kiba looked up hopefully but with worry obviously mixed into his facial expression. “What was that?” The pale individual could only assume that the hope was because he thought he might’ve mentioned something about food, and the worry was if he hadn’t, and thought the question dangerous sense he was easily angered.

Sasuke practically tossed him into the car going with the latter but his face remaining impassive as if this were not the case. “Nothing.” He replied flatly.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. “He’s basically saying that you make his life unusual hell.”

Kiba cocked an eye brow, now confused. “What?”

The Nara and the Uchiha glanced at each other in an unamused fashion before both facing to stare at Kiba like he was the dumbest thing that ever happened to Mother Nature.

“Nothing” Shikamaru repeated.

Kiba pouted as the rest of their gang entered the limo. “Well gee, you guys act like I’m the retarded bean in the burrito.”

Chouji busted it out in laughter at this. “Hahaha!! Retarded beans! This guy is so damn creative!!”

Staring in what was almost disgust, the only two boys in the car with any common sense and rationality couldn’t disagree more, but they knew that Chouji was into bad half-baked jokes and stuff, so they weren’t too surprised.

On the other hand, Kiba was practically beaming.

“HA! Did ya hear that?! I’m _creative_.” The Inuzuka proudly iterated the same way only five-year old kids did when the teacher complimented them.

Shikamaru rubbed his temples slightly as he relaxed against the velvety cushiony chairs of the long limo. “Great. Now he’s reinvigorated.”

Kiba cocked his eyebrow. “Stop using such confusing words, dammit.”

Sasuke lamented. “I thought he was too hungry to talk.”

Before he could reply, Sasuke’s words processed through his mind and he remembered the aching pain in his belly. “Damn you, Uchiha! I had totally forgotten about that!” The Inuzuka bit out between gritted teeth. He groaned. “Why does this always happen to me?”

Kakashi rested his arm on the top of his seat as he twisted around to look at his little money makers. “So, what’s going on? How was school?”

“A drag.” The Nara replied insipidly, as usual.

Sasuke snorted. “No kidding. I almost murdered today.”

Kiba winced at this. “I am not your punching bag, y’know!”

Chouji grinned. “I had fun, actually, Kakashi. I mean, as long as I have friends to be with all the time, I can’t really complain, can I?”

Kakashi’s eye curled at this. He was always really glad for Chouji. He used to be quite the loser, and personally, he never saw much in him either before, but when the group of boys showed up on his door step and Chouji proved his worth as part of a band, well, Kakashi was impressed. He had gotten far and was now actually quite popular. Sure he wasn’t Sasuke, or even Kiba when it came to his looks, but people liked him for who he was, and not for his appearance. He was the humble one of the lot and girls thought he was sweet. This also made him easy for people to start befriending him, and that had brought the youngster into much higher spirits as opposed to his old self.

“I’m just happy to hear you actually enjoyed your day.” Kakashi smiled, the lines of his lips curling, only being slightly visible through his white medical-like mask.

“Now as for you, Sasuke, Kiba, I don’t want to hear you guys fighting anymore. I don’t have enough pills to keep my head in place when you guys start.” He replied, throwing Kiba take out from his favorite restaurant.

Even though Kiba was about to complain to him too, his mouth shut when the paper bag from the nice little restaurant accompanied by their logo imprinted on it landed smack in his lap with a slight yelp. His whole face lit up like a firework as he dug into it right then and there. By now, Kakashi had gotten accustomed to Kiba’s hunger attacks and apparently didn’t need the extra stress. So today, he came prepared.

As Kiba plowed through his late lunch, he looked up shortly, giving Kakashi a wide gaping grin with dots of sauce and meat on his chin and cheeks here and there. Behind his mask, Kakashi was grimacing at the kid slightly, although amused, he would admit.

Kiba gulped back what was in his mouth before spitting out an excited, “Thank you, Kakashi!! You’re a fucking life saver!!” and then continuing to eat like a juvenile puppy… Or a gross one anyway…

Kakashi only shook his head as he turned back to the road, lifting a hand back up to him. “No need to thank me, kiddo.”

The gray haired man proceeded into stepping onto the pedal as the car began to trudge down the street with an air of grandness. They drove for a while in mostly silence, Kiba occasionally being reprimanded by Sasuke because Chouji had some left over snacks that he hadn’t shared earlier when the short haired brunette nearly died. After some bickering and a hit on the head later, courtesy of Sasuke to Kiba, the limousine was parked at the front entrance of a large building with large letters that spelled out, “Konoha Productions”, lighting up brightly at night among the other tall edifices that hardly rivaled its own.

As Kakashi got out, a man in a suit held open his door and got in the front seat to park the limo back with the rest, another pair of men in suits opening the doors for the band members loitering in the back of the vehicle. As they stepped out almost imperiously, the quartet pushed through the grand glass doors of the main front entrance, their silver manager following close behind them. Once inside, many of the staff, most notably the women, began to greet them and compliment them, attempting small talk. Sasuke hardly replied, and when he bothered, they usually didn’t exceed a mere “Hn”, or “Thank you.” Shikamaru was more or less the same. Kiba on the other hand often chatted up the ladies and on occasion, guys who were relatively already close to him. He always said that it was a good idea to buddy up with the staff, but Sasuke just shrugged, not caring.

Sasuke and his group that mainly consisted of Chouji, Shikamaru, Kiba, and himself, were part of a band called the “The Avengers”. They were pretty fresh meat if you went by how long an average artist took to make it big, but they had managed to do so within a time frame of three months, easy. People often linked their success to the popularity of the Uchiha more than anything, but Kakashi had always reassured him that if it wasn’t for the talent they had, pretty face or not, they wouldn’t be there. Sasuke liked to assume people actually thought he had talent rather than just a good face to look at, which made him have a tendency to dislike women more than he meant because this was exactly what the vast majority of the female population usually gave the impression of. He wanted to prove his voice was something to rival his looks, and lately, he was getting more comments on his ability rather than his appearance, so that kept him in a relatively good mood. Although Sasuke would never admit it, he was pretty sensitive about his looks. He hardly liked it when he was admired because of it.

Sasuke was the band’s leading image, which wasn’t much of a surprise as he was the main focus of their concerts, not that he ever really cared or wanted to be. His laidback and mysterious character somehow attracts a large female (and even sometimes male) crowd. He was the obvious looker of the group, the one all the guys envied and all the girls wanted, and the star of their band. He also worked as a part-time model to help with their fundings. He wasn’t really interested in it, but that seemed to make all the girls swoon even more when he stared at the camera like he couldn’t care less what the world thought. All in all, he was quite the bold character for such a reserved and depressing punk rock star. Generally, Sasuke was the one who wrote their songs, and was even more often responsible for the lyrics to the majority of his band’s songs, but of course, he got plenty of help and tweaking done on behalf of the opinions of their band members and its staff. Sasuke was surprisingly very creative and regarded as so by those in the music industry, part of it being because he insisted he had a goal to accomplish, but always claimed that they had no need in knowing what it was. Enigmatic, handsome, and reserved, Sasuke was the band’s shining idol and lead singer.

Kiba was the band’s drummer, and a very good one at that. Sasuke assumed it was like the equivalent to speaking for the dog-freak because he played it so naturally, almost as if it was an extension of himself. He was the so called “fun one” out of their group. He lightened people’s mood at concerts and always managed to make the crowd break out in smiles. He was a crazy son of a bitch, but people liked him that way. Or well, most of them did…the only exceptions being the members of their band, of course. Kiba had a part time as a choreographer in music videos for other idols and the like. He was also a DJ on occasion and was fond of his break dancing, performing during concerts every so often and showing off his dancing that the world seemed to die for when he did.

Shikamaru was the cool and collected one, his fans being more on the nutty side. And by nutty, he meant like, shit-just-hit-the-fan nutty. It was pretty fudged up on his side, but he wouldn’t deny that this was what made his fan-base so damn funny. Unlike Sasuke’s and Kiba’s fan-base which consisted of mostly fangirls, and well, fanboys too, Shikamaru’s fans consisted mainly of Tumblr hipsters and nerds. Just _fun_ and _crazy_ people really, and Tumblr people we’re pretty awesome indeed. Were their fandoms fudged up like nothing else mattered? Yes. But was it enjoyable? Oh hell yeah. Shikamaru was one of the greatest troll kings for the Tumblr community, and people loved him because of it. You could always find meme’s quoting one of Shikamaru’s lines from a talk show that expressed _“life”_ in general, and you could always bet it cracked people’s shit up. Of course, Shikamaru was one of those rare idols that could get away with saying, “It’s troublesome having such wild and energetic fans” and still manage to maintain deeply loyal fans without a doubt, as if loving him for being hated for it. It was really weird, but Sasuke just assumed it was similar to the psychology behind how he seemed to loathe fangirls and yet they seemed to come at him with even more force each time he made it clear for them that this was evident. They practically respected him for being a lazy bastard. Sasuke was pretty sure that at some point while browsing through his Tumblr feed, he saw someone starting a religion about Shikamaru’s lifestyle. Tumblr was one crack-filled place, obviously, but that was surprisingly okay with them.

And lastly, there was the talented keyboardist and on occasion lower background vocalist, Chouji Akimichi. He was the one all the girls regarded as being sweet, and modest, which was in truth completely accurate. Chouji was pretty sentimental for a guy, and he was loyal. He actually used to be quite the rebel before joining The Avengers, most notably in his junior high years, but suddenly became honest and humble when he began surrounding himself with kind and caring friends. People suspected this rebellious streak was due to earlier bullying sense he was a relatively easy target to push around, but no one ever worried anymore because the boy always seemed content at the side of his band buddies. Chouji was a sort of inspiration for those who thought they’d never amount to anything and those who had been bullied and felt like there was nothing left for them. But as Chouji proved to the world, no matter what bad may ever happen, if you work hard enough, anyone can achieve happiness if they just looked in the right places.

He was kinda like male Taylor Swift.

After a couple of gift basket muffins and some minutes away, the talented quartet of artists reached the top floor of the grand building with the usual air that only a high-class celebrity group could offer. And by that of course I meant hunching over, yawning, and almost tripping over their own feet (well, for Kiba mostly). Stepping as confidently as they could in that regard across the expertly shined marble tiled floor that reflected off all of their retreating figures from the excessively shiny-looking elevator, they walked up to the desk of the head of Konoha Productions like they had a million times before. The seemingly young and beautiful woman behind the large and imposing piece of furniture looked up, a small smile forming on her pink lips as she regarded the men in front of her.

“Welcome back, Sasuke, Shikamaru, Kiba, Chouji. How was school?” the blonde woman asked, her lips slightly twisting into a smirk as she noticed Kiba twitch at her inquiry.

“It was fine, Lady Tsunade,” Kakashi stated calmly.” They survived, anyway.”

Kiba snorted. _“Fine!?”_ he yelled while throwing his hands up in a rage. “That’s the understatement of the **_year!!”_** the brunette growled angrily.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at the brunette’s usual over-exaggerance. “I almost murdered today.” Sasuke repeated for the second time that afternoon. “Again.”

“And I was just going to stand there and watch.” Shikamaru decided to add.

Chouji munched on his muffin happily, remembering the events of that day clearly. “It was fun watching Kiba suffer and Sasuke get mad.” He joined in with a mouthful of muffin.

Tsunade just laughed as Kiba went off on Chouji and Shikamaru about not siding with him, yelling something about how he never understood how they could call themselves his so-called “friends” but never did a damn thing for him in an attempt to help him out.

“Isn’t that what friends are **_supposed_** to do!?” he cried out.

Tsunade, suppressing a laugh, halted the argument when her authorative voice cut in sharply among their words of indifference towards each other.

“Alright already! You’re all pretty, so shut the heck up.” She reassured them with a teasing grin tugging at her lips.

Kiba sniffed. “Dang right I am!” he mumbled out.

Shikamaru actually smiled at this and so did Sasuke, but not before scoffing and rolling his eyes first.

The blonde woman with twin tails tied low to her shoulders seemingly ignored the comment before leaning in her chair and rummaging through some files next to her desk in a file cabinet. She knew that if she paid too much attention to the brunette, they’d never get anywhere.

With a favorable smile, she pulled out the folders she needed and set it before her on the desk. “The forms for you to go to Tokyo are ready. All we need is the consent of your guardian.” Tsunade said, looking up at the pale, moon-haired individual.

Kakashi nodded before bending over and whipping out a pen from his shirt pocket. Kakashi was not only the manager of The Avengers, but the father figure of them as well. He had the permission of all the parents of the four boys to make decisions for them without asking them because they trusted him to take good care of their children. It would be hard to have them agree to everything anyways sense the group lived together in a large apartment away from their parents because the studio insisted that it’d be easier if they all just lived together. Which was pretty true, considering no one ever knew when one of them would randomly have a light bulb moment for a new hit single or something along those lines.

Like, what was on the face of it, happening right now.

While the group of boys were lounging around in their penthouse, Chouji and the rest of the gang had gathered around the computer not long after he gave a shout about having a great idea for a new song. Before this, Sasuke had been cross legged on the comfy matt in front of the television playing with Kiba, who was splayed all over the couch on his stomach after having the piece of furniture bend out flat like a bed as it had the ability to do. The pair had partnered up to play a quest in Monster Hunter 3 ultimate online, where they were currently whipping Alatreon’s ass because Sasuke was determined to upgrade his Altheos Evolutia until its stats were entirely exploited. Usually, Kiba would have pouted and refused because Alatreon was one of the hardest monsters in the game, but he gave in when Sasuke had agreed to help him gather materials for his new Zinogre hammer to go along with the Zinogre armor he had just made for future use once completed.

Shikamaru, on the other hand, was killing time by watching the clouds through the glass windows that basically covered the entire eastern wall of their penthouse while jamming to **_I Just Wanna Run_** by The Downtown Fiction. Sasuke found this amusing sense the song had always oddly reminded him of the guy, so it was strange thing to see. It made him wonder if the genius ever thought the same when he listened to it.

They were just about done carving at Alatreon’s dead carcass when Chouji had called everyone over excitedly, causing Kiba to almost drop his 3DS XL in fright. Of course, Kiba had made sure to tell everyone that he had not been alarmed in any way, even though it was a useless attempt sense everyone had seen the look on Kiba’s face anyways, but they all just kept that to their selves and nodded half-heartedly.

Chouji had come across the idea while watching some educational vlogs about trips to Japan. The other three band members agreed to the proposal because, quite frankly, Japan seemed like a pretty neat place to go visit and on top of that, was filled with video games. The place was literally chocked full of them, and them being video-game nerds and all, eyed the thought with interest. This included the lazy bastard, who was intrigued by the idea as well. Sasuke couldn’t tell if it was because of the manga, or the games, but either way, he was just happy.

While Kiba freaked out over all the _Shounen-Jump_ they would be able to read, Sasuke took out a Japanese magazine that Tsunade had lent him from one of her own appointments in the foreign country and started scribbling down J-pop CD tracks he was going to want to buy over there. Sasuke tried his best to ignore the dancing brunette behind him as he bit his pen, occasionally writing bands like ONE OK ROCK, and Nico Touches the Walls onto the notebook paper. If Chouji had wanted to get everyone in a good mood, it was working, because even Shikamaru got off his lazy ass to talk it over with them.

This diminutive and insignificant “assembly” gave birth to the idea of having a small “Japan only” tour, where they would write a new hit single and perform for some publicity. This way, they would be able to become more widely known in the east while still managing to work at the same time. It was a good way to promote their band even if they were becoming rapidly known world-wide. In a way, this would just speed up the process.

As an increasingly popular new boy band, word was spreading fast and their status was rising like no other. The boys were being stretched by their hectic and demanding schedules that were filled to the brim with appearances for photo shoots, recordings, interviews, and guest stars on hot television shows that none of them were really all that eager to do with the omission of the mutt.

Kiba loved being a rock star, and he didn’t hesitate to show it either. He relished being rich and he absolutely adored the attention he was given as a rising idol. It was obvious though, and only natural that they would all cave in from being pushed so hard with the eventful life they ensued while juggling school all at the same time. But in the end, he was happy, and that kept his fans and the rest of the world happy, because a happy Kiba was a very obedient and grateful Kiba. It also explained why the music label in which they held a contract with went through whatever means necessary to keep the spoiled princes in high spirits, even at the cost of money, which really wasn’t a loss to them sense their “happiness” was being paid through their own earnings. That was fine with the boys sense they were pretty modest for idols, again with the exception of Kiba at times, but nonetheless, felt pride in the fact that _they_ were able to pay for their _own_ things rather than being spoon-fed like a bunch of real rich kids. Not that all rich kids were this way, sense that was just being stereo typical on their part if they agreed, but it would be a lie to say that the majority didn’t suffer from this situation.

But that aside, was really how they were able to prove the theory of the staff. With a mixture of people like The Avengers, you certainly had a group that you wanted to keep together as much as possible. You’d never know when one of them would get a good idea that had to be relayed immediately before it was forgotten.

As Kakashi’s ball point pen left with a lasting impression of an inky slash on the last fine, bleached, piece of paper of the stack, Tsunade collected the pile of documents and nodded up in approval to him. She gave them a small smile as she straightened out the mound in her hands before setting it down in a binder where it would be later located with the rest of her important records. “You’ll all be leaving early tomorrow. Your flight leaves at approximately 5:45 a.m. so don’t be late!” she warned, giving them all a stern look. Her eyes casually turned to face Kiba.

The other three boys turned to look at him as well. When Kiba got whiff of what exactly was being implied, he stiffened. He gave them all a glare of his own, not intending to bow down to any of them. “Why are you all looking at me like that!? What about Shikamaru!? He’s the one who is lazy! Not _me!!”_ he spat, crossing his arms and huffing.

Shikamaru shrugged. “True, but I actually get up if I have too.”

Kiba looked incredulously back at him. “What about _school!?”_

“I don’t have to get up early for that. It’s **_school.”_**

Sasuke smirked at this. “He’s got a point. After all, the school doesn’t pay us to go.”

Tsunade sighed. “But _we_ do. Just get there on time boys.” She swayed slightly in her chair as she massaged a growing head ache on her forehead.

“Roger that.” Sasuke replied with a teasing smile. Tsunade just shook her head at him, returning one of her own smiles before shooing them off like a mother hen did when her chicks were getting rowdy and fidgety.

“Fine, just get out of my office before I get a bigger head ache and feel inclined to call security on all of you.” She droned half-exasperatedly.

They all gave her amused glances. Although Tsunade seemed relatively at peace now, they all knew she really would call security on them, despite their names in all its glory, if they decided to push it. How did the boys know? Well, it was simple. It was because she had done it before, and no one doubted that the busty blonde wouldn’t do it again. But regardless of her complaints, the quartet knew that she was really enjoying every second of it. Heck, even _Kiba_ could tell, and that was saying something.

As the boys contemplated on whether or not they wanted security to step in, since it wasn’t like they hadn’t eventually gotten friendly with them, Kakashi dragged them back before they could even decide.

This only amused the boys further as they let themselves be dragged. Kakashi, like the rest of his crew, knew that security would just dick around if they found out it was just them because they all already knew that whenever Tsunade called them over the boys, she was never really serious. Sometimes they even broke out of character to chat excitedly about the rock stars’ lives or current interesting news. And occasionally, they even asked for autographs, much to the amusement of the group. But they didn’t judge them. Hell, security guards were people too, so who gave a damn? Not to mention that Jiraiya was the head of the security at Konoha Industries, who acted much like a second father to the kids. He was also Tsunade’s personal body guard so that was why you could always see Jiraiya trailing behind her like a puppy whenever she left somewhere. It was kind of a win win situation for him since all the boys knew how much he liked their boss, and hell, even Tsunade knew it! So knowing that the old fart was in charge, things could end up taking a turn for the worst…or at least to the weirder side of the donut. Like it usually did. If it came to that, Jiraiya and the boys might end up annoying Tsunade even further until eventually security had to be kicked out and boy was that a sight to see. At this point, regular staff had to get involved, and that was funny for everyone. And if _that_ didn’t work, the big bad boss herself joined in on the battlefield, and that only made all the staff workers in charge of finances weep in a corner helplessly. This was where the boys tried to draw the line because they sympathized with these particular workers since they very well knew how Tsunade became when she was angered, and not only was it incredibly scary, but it was _expensive as fuck too._ The princess usually threw chairs out the windows of her office, broke her desk in a single-handed punch, or what was the band’s personal favourite, made holes on every floor of the towering building by sending her wrath in the form of her valuables down to the ground. Yup… Konoha Productions was an amusingly crack-filled place indeed. It sometimes made the group wonder why their company wasn’t associated with the black market yet. Ideally, they were perfect for the job with the varied staff they had. Hell, they could make an army scarier than one made up of rabid fangirls if they wanted to.

And _that_ was something to be afraid of. Because a group of rabid fangirls was a group death crawled over.

Only at Konoha Productions could you expect something as crazy as this to happen whilst it still being allowed to happen. Seriously, something was wrong with this accursed business, and nobody seemed to give a rat’s ass about it either.

Except for maybe Kakashi every once in a while.

With a quick nod of assurance, Kakashi pushed his hoard of teenage hormones away from his boss back to the gleaming elevator. He exhaled tiredly when a “Ping!” was heard and the doors began closing as they gradually began to descend to the first floor. This week was going to be a long week. And it had better be worth it. It didn’t help when he noticed the insignificant glint in Tsunade’s eyes either.

That woman was up to something, and Kakashi knew it. Otherwise, she would’ve never approved and executed the idea so quickly, and he had a feeling that the boys kind of sensed it too, only they weren’t all that concerned about it like Kakashi was. Knowing Tsunade a lot longer, he found it increasingly strange that she had seemed so eager to send them off to Japan. He knew that behind that entire tough and strict attitude, she held the four boys awful close to her, so it couldn’t be because she wanted to get rid of them. He supposed that Tsunade probably wanted to pull in a bigger profit, not that they needed it to his knowledge anyways… So, really, it didn’t quit add up, but… Kakashi supposed it wasn’t in his place to know everything. Although he was used to it, he’d admit. That was Tsunade’s and Big Guns up stairs’ job. Or perhaps, this was to teach the boys a lesson? But then why the rush?

With a curious sigh, Kakashi frowned. What the hell was Tsunade plotting?

 

* * *

 

Back in their basically second household built-in studio at one of the lower levels in the building, the band and the staff were chilling, chatting excitably about their visit for Japan that would be happening the very next day. Most of them were fooling around in the living room of the large half-home and semi-studio while a couple of others stayed back in the kitchen right next to it.

Ino was so excited, she wouldn’t stop jumping people, but this made everyone else just laugh. Ino Yamanaka was The Avengers’ Historian/Promoter and Music Journalist, so she knew the stars on quite a personal level, kind of like Kakashi and Yamato, only their roles being Manager and assistant manager. Although Yamato was also their financial keeper and booking agent.

Shino, on the other hand, was Konoha’s record engineer, although he was most closely identified with their band since he worked well with them and was about the same age as the teens in the band. In fact, most of the staff working under the Avengers were teenagers of the same class. They all knew each other one way or another because they had all went to the same schools together sense childhood. Tsunade had allowed for minors to work under her because she recognized their talent and knew that they would probably make up the best staff for the band since they were already acquainted and knew each other’s preferences. It was the perfect opportunity, really, and she had enough power to influence people to let them work for her. Tsunade was a scary woman indeed. Though one could guess the fact that she was rich helped her pull the strings too.

Neji was currently recording Sasuke, Kiba, Chouji, and Shikamaru race to the death in Mario Kart as they all began to play dirty as a domino effect that all started when Chouji, who was a playing a heavy character (Bowser), knocked Kiba off the bridge in Maple Treeway. Ensuing this unfortunate event, Kiba gave a war cry out, declaring that if Chouji wanted to play dirty, he would do the same. This was when everyone took advantage of the sudden change in gameplay and all went full out on each other. Shikamaru was by far the best when it came to underhanded tactics, such as finding secret pathways, expertly dropping bananas where players were sure to pass but in places where they were either not visible or appeared too fast for them to change course, and of course, placing fake item boxes right behind the real ones. He was also usually the fastest, since he liked going light weight when it came to characters, his personal favorite being baby Luigi since he preferred Luigi of the two brothers. He went with light weights because he figured that if he was faster, there wasn’t a need for him to have to worry about heavy weights blasting him to the ends of the earth. After all, he was always weary of racers behind him, so he made sure to keep his distances or to the sidelines, whichever was more convenient for him at the time. Sasuke and Kiba however, were medium weight users. Kiba liked to play either Bowser Jr. or Diddy Kong, while Sasuke preferred Mario among other characters… But as shocking as it was, Sasuke’s _actual_ favourite character was covertly Yoshi. Yup, the big bad boss of Konoha who was bordering among the top 10 best artists in the country was secretly a big fan of the utterly cute dinosaur, Yoshi. He even owned Yoshi’s story in his stash of classical games as the staff had jaw-smackingly discovered when they snooped around Sasuke’s belongings to try and get some dirt on the guy in clandestine, and that fucking game was one of the cutest damn things you’d ever play.

If you had never played that stupid game, then you probably didn’t know true cuteness. When Kiba had played it for everyone else to see what it was like, they all had their eyes almost popping out of their sockets from how adorable the fucking game was. Seriously. Who knew Sasuke had a dinosaur fetish? They all knew Sasuke was owner to a Spike plushie from My Little Pony but they never really thought much of it. All the same, now that they knew about his abnormal affections towards this particular extinct animal, it had all started to make sense.

And maybe they should have expected as much because they _did_ find a picture in Sasuke’s forbidden family album where there smack in the picture was a very exultant and angelic baby Sasuke fondly holding a derpy but happy-looking dinosaur. And despite all the “aw”s and cooing everyone had done when they saw just how precious their ice prince use to be, the more rational people of the group couldn’t help but feel a bit perturbed at how utterly different Sasuke had been in his more childish days. But then again, Sasuke _had_ lost his entire family, and his older brother was currently missing, so it was likely that he was dead too, or at least that’s what everyone had assumed after a year had passed and he was still MIA. Nevertheless, Sasuke insisted that his brother was not dead, and that one day, he would find him and bring him back home. No one ever dared to oppose Sasuke because they all knew just how highly he thought of his brother. Sasuke practically idolized Itachi, so it was a big shock for him when he never came back from his business trip, and then shortly after, lost his entire family as well.

Origin story aside though, Sasuke had a surprisingly not so old looking dinosaur that quite startlingly resembled that of the baby photograph under his pillow in his room, much to the amusement of the staff. So even 17 years later, Sasuke was still in possession of the old thing, even though it almost looked new, despite a few patches here and there. It was obvious that the cold bastard took very good care of the thing, and that for some reason made Kiba die of laughter, but everyone just ignored him and inwardly hoped he’d choke on his saliva or something.

But focusing back on the game, Neji made sure to catch every glorious moment of their brutalized version of Mario Kart. It was like Mortal Kombat, only more like the kiddy Nintendo version of it with little go karts and motorcycles. Everyone almost lost it when Kiba was millimeters away from the finish line and about to claim victory when Sasuke unleashed hell on him and let the red shells of doom he had so professionally saved rain down on Kiba’s character like the bloody plague. Everyone at this point was either on the floor laughing, high-fiving Sasuke, or cheering. Kiba himself began yelling obscenities about how that shouldn’t be allowed and how that was a bunch of baloney on Sasuke’s part. Sasuke just shrugged at this and relished silently in his success.

Just when everyone thought that maybe, _just maybe,_ Kiba could win first place in the cup, Sasuke broke the tie and ruined his chances, just like every time they played any game. Kiba would acknowledge the fact that Sasuke was good, but he’d never admit to him being better. Of course he wouldn’t. It just wasn’t in Kiba’s wiring to bow down to anyone. Especially to an arrogant bastard like Sasuke.

After their competition came to an end and Mario stood at the top with the number 1 underneath him on the steps, Neji zoomed the camera back out again to show a seemingly pleased raven as people retold the events of how awesome the last race had been.

“So, Mr. Mario Kart Champion, how does it feel to slaughter a child’s ego like that?” Neji asked with a hint of mirth present in his tone.

Sasuke cocked an eye brow but fared well in keeping his face impassive as he spoke. “Losing is a natural part of life. It is an essential concept for growing up.”

“ _WHAT?!?_ Sasuke!! I don’t think you even _understand_ the concept of _‘losing’!!”_ Kiba cried out exasperatedly while pointing an immature finger at him.

Sasuke gave himself a mental pat on the back when he successfully managed to mask a twitch as his thoughts temporarily drifted to his past.

Neji chuckled, turning the camera to Kiba briefly before settling back on Sasuke. “So, any words of advice to all your fans out there?”

Ino jumped in at his point and squished herself in between a much annoyed Kiba and an indifferent Sasuke. “How about, don’t listen to a word Kiba says and you’ll do fine?” She chirped. “Oh wait, no. Better yet, don’t sleep on the couch with Doritos scattered all over your sleeping carcass? Flies can go into your mouth and that is **_really_ ** unattractive. I would know. Kiba’s done it!”

“Wait, I did _what?!”_

“Ew, Kiba. Even my bugs have more class than that. Why? Because I’ve started teaching them tap dancing.”

“Shaddup, Shino! Nobody asked your lonely ass!!”

“Ouch!” Ino smiled sympathetically. “If you don’t shut up Kiba, I’ll kick your ass.” She shot Shino a thumbs up and he nodded back in approval. “Now get over here and get your ass beat by a girl.”

Sasuke and Neji watched entertained as Ino started to chase a screaming five-year old Kiba around the room.

“Ah, any last words Kiba?” Neji grinned.

“JESUS CRIST, TAKE THE WHEEL!!!”

“Ay, I’m on it.” Shikamaru grunted. “Ino, stop scaring the little guy shitless.”

“I AM NOT **_LiTtLe!!”_** Kiba’s voice cracked.

“Ha! Good one Kiba!” Chouji called.

“…Wait, what?”

“Haha, buuurn!”

“Hey guys, Kiba’s hitting puberty!! Let’s all celebrate with milk and Oreos!”

“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU GUYS TAlkINg ABouT!?!” Kiba’s voice cracked again at the sheer highness in pitch he was currently screaming in, causing him to slap a hand to his mouth, a light blush forming on his cheeks.

Neji glanced over to Sasuke shortly. “I’m going to have to sensor this after all.” He feigned a sigh and Sasuke chuckled.

“Oh hey, you’re right. Our little guy’s growin’ up.”

“How many balloons do ya think were gonna need for the party?”

“Pssht, hell if I know what kids want these days.”

“They grow up so fast! OH THE FLAMES OF YOUTH SHINE BRIGHT, YES THEY DO!!”

“Oh fuck, Lee’s here guys.”

“HELLO MY FELLOW FRIENDS. MY BEST SALUTATIONS TO YOU ALL.”

“Eyyy….”

“This guy don’t get out much, do he?”

“I GO TO THE PARK TO SERENADE WITH THE BIRDS I FIND!! I GET OUT A LOT!! I ALSO DO MANY MORNING EXCERSISES WITH MY MOST WONDEROUS BUT SPIRITED AND YOUTHFUL LIKE TEACHER GAI!!!”

“Yeaaahhh—” Kiba replied perfunctorily while ducking a swing from Ino’s fist of fury. Shooting Shikamaru, Shino and Chouji a very incredulous look, he mouthed; _I don’t think he does get out there a lot._

Sasuke looked over to Neji with a smirk forming at the edge of his lips. “So Shikamaru’s Jesus?” he soliloquized, greatly amused by the turn of events.

Neji couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him. “ _That’s_ the first thing that comes to your mind?” He shook his head.

“Well I had always wondered… Things make sense now.”

“So back to your advice…” He grinned.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

“Kiba! Get back here, you wuss!!”

Sasuke hid a cringe as he tried to compose himself. “Ah yes… Never feed your pets snickers. They will choke on it and die. Kiba did that to his Goldfish, Georgie, and he started floating to the surface. Don’t know why though. It’s not like he actually ate any of it. Fish don’t have molars.”

Neji was holding back a laugh as Sasuke lifted a hand up to the camera in good-bye.

“Haha… Thank you…for those enlightening words…pfft.”

“It was an honor. Kiba’s a good role model for things you shouldn’t do.”

Only these guys could make him so out of his usual character that which would have been basically the definition of the guards at Buckingham Palace. Neji waved a hand dismissively, trying to fight back his laugh as he spoke. “This has been Neji Hyuuga interviewing Uchiha Sasuke, worldwide Mario Kart Champion, signing off! We’ll see you in the next broadcast!” He said in the most narrative but casual voice a cameraman could muster up. He flashed Sasuke a brilliant Hyuuga smile as he clicked the button to stop the recording. And ah yes, you guessed it! Neji was The Avengers’ one and only, cameraman. “I’m going to have to upload the video later. Ino’s going to want to post this on the band’s blog for sure.”

Sasuke chuckled. “You bet she is. Its good publicity I guess.” He shrugged.

“PUBLICITY MY ASS, MY VOICE CRACKING IS NOT GOING ON THE INTERWEBS, _CAPICHÉ?!?”_

“Someone upload it. Now.” Sasuke demanded in a superficial tone of authority.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes as Neji Passed the expensive camera to Chouji, who only nodded in understanding. “What a drag.”

Sasuke threw him a drop-dead gorgeous smile that would have had anyone other than their gang swooning on the spot. It was more of a natural reflex though, since he didn’t realize half the time when he _was_ doing it. Hey, how was he supposed to know when he couldn’t even see himself? He only knew because Shikamaru raised an eyebrow in question as if saying, _‘You’re doing it again’_. “You know you love us.”

“Yeah, you lazy fucktard!!”

“Fucking Kiba.”

Shikamaru raised a hand in a slight greeting. “Oh hey, Sai. Come here to protect Kiba from his scary staff?”

As the strikingly straight-haired raven with a security vest strolled in steadily, he smiled a practiced smile, tilting his head slightly as if pondering the prospect. “Hmm, _nah_. I think its decent preparation for when the fangirls come flocking towards him. After all, I won’t always be there to protect all of your sorry asses.” He responded fairly pleasant.

“Ah, typical Sai.” Shikamaru nodded as he regarded their personal body guard.

Sasuke smirked slightly. “There’s just one problem. When Kiba gets mobbed by chicks, he doesn’t feel _inclined_ to run away.” He pointed out.

Sai’s plastic smile remained unchanging at Sasuke’s words. “Well, somebody’s gonna end up dead.”

“I _heard_ that!” Came the loud growl from afar as Kiba and Ino practically played hurtles with the furniture.

“Ditto.” The other three bystanders confirmed annoyed in unison. There was a **_‘BAM!’_ ** and a screech as Ino finally caught up to Kiba.

“You have been avenged, Shino!” the pale blonde piped up in triumph.

 

* * *

 

It was early in the morning, somewhere around 4:15 A.M. to be more exact, and among the residents of the penthouse, there was much movement and shuffling. They were about to leave and the boys wanted to make sure that there wasn’t anything they had forgotten to pack. The night before, they had made sure to pack _then_ so that they were less likely to forget something _now_. It had been like a scavenger hunt for the teens, and quite frankly, it was actually kind of fun. That was, if you were able to find what you were looking for. Apparently for blind-ass people like Kiba who couldn’t find his favourite pair of converse _or_ striped skinny jeans _or_ black shades,— _even though the house had always remained strictly organized_ —Sasuke thought annoyed, it was easy to turn a simple packing into an all-out war. _Fantastic_.

And so, as Kiba had continued to rave havoc and chaos while in pursuit of his belongings, the boys had huddled close to eat some of Chouji’s snacks with him while they surveyed the show before them, letting it unfold. They all watched with mild amusement as Kiba would go from room to room, corner to corner, while even crawling on the floor like some sort of ninja who was terrible at being stealthy as he called out for the certain item he was currently snuffing out with his so called “keen senses”. The best part was that the idiot would pass that very same item at least five times before he would finally call it quits.

“Should we tell him?” Chouji had asked them in between a chip.

Sasuke smirked, enjoying this too much. “Naaah.”

Shikamaru had just grunted. “Tch. So troublesome.”

At the time, Kiba had been rolling around in a pile of his belongings in search for his beloved iPod, except that he literally kept walking right by it. It was on top of their flat screen TV for some reason, and it was a pretty clear view from where they sat, so it was easy to tell for them. If only Kiba would just _turn the fuck around,_ then maybe they’d actually get somewhere. Sasuke rolled his eyes as the brunette continued to obliviously go rampant on the house.

“Hey, someone’s gonna have to clean up that mess he’s making.” Chouji mused again once he heard another clunk of a lamp falling on carpet and something rolling across the floor.

“I’m not doing it, especially when it’s not my mess.” Shikamaru mumbled as he sunk further onto the bean bag he was currently occupying.

Sasuke just whipped out another Japanese magazine from the stack he had accumulated from all of Tsunade’s business trips and started flipping through it in a bored fashion. “Well, I sure as hell ain’t doin’ anything, so Kiba better get his maid outfit ready. He’s going to need it after he’s done packing.”

This managed to make the other two boys smile. They were both well aware of the fact that Kiba did _not_ have a maid outfit in his possession, but either way, that just made the joke funnier. I mean, if Kiba really _did_ own one, it would have gone from funny to just plain disturbing.

They all ignored the emerging image of Kiba in a maid outfit before they all died of heart attacks. Kira didn’t stand a fucking chance against maid Kiba. Maid Kiba would fuck you up. If you weren’t already straight, Kiba would make you the fuck straight while wearing something as girly as that. And well, if you were a girl… who knew what would happen. The band didn’t have a female in the group, so as far as they knew, everyone fell into the same situation. Except Sasuke of course. He wasn’t straight, and Kiba in a maid outfit sure as hell didn’t help. It just made him much more asexual than he already was. But this just confirmed it. At least now he was a hundred percent sure that he wasn’t gay either. If a pretty girl in a cute maid outfit couldn’t turn Sasuke on, rough n’ tough Kiba in one sure as hell couldn’t either.

But now that it was just about show time, the fucking loser was still sleeping, and Shikamaru made sure to remind everyone of this.

“Guys, it’s almost four thirty. Someone needs to wake Kiba before I feel inclined to leave him behind.”

Sasuke just snorted at this, silently telling himself that there was nothing wrong with just ditching the brunette. But then again, they might lose a great source of entertainment if they did. Either way, it didn’t matter to him all that much so he got up from his seat on the mini bar after he finished eating his Frosted Flakes and made his way over to the sink to dump his eating utensils and to wash his hands. “I’ll do it.” He said loudly for them to hear.

Slapping his hand onto his jeans to dry them, he walked over to where the musical equipment and instruments were in the large living room area. He nonchalantly made a grab for his guitar and amplifier as he trudged up the stairs coolly. As his face maintained its look of indifference, he began to plug in the amplifier, the guitar already being plugged into the amp itself.

Shoving in some ear plugs, he cranked up all the knobs as far they would go to the right. He sat himself on the amp casually, swinging his leg on either side of the amp as he unplugged the guitar. He smirked a little. _Let the feedback commence._

Right then, a burst of what sounded like a microphone dropping rang out loudly (Or at least that’s only what Sasuke could imagine since the earplugs he was wearing were working quite marvelously in terms of muffling sound), so much so that Kiba nearly shot up to the roof with the way his body had jumped with spams upward like a cat who had been sprayed with water. Hey…that wasn’t a bad idea… Well, Sasuke knew what he’d do next time as a wakeup call. He couldn’t help the half grin that formed on his lips at the thought of just spraying the guy with the straightest face he could muster up. It would be hilarious! Although he wouldn’t laugh. Oh no. Uchiha’s didn’t, or rather _couldn’t_ laugh in front of others. Hell, not even when they were alone. But fuck, if he ever had the urge to laugh when alone, that’d be the day he knew he had finally hit the mad-man mark.

_And that’ll be the day I finally murder, probably._

Eh, oh well.

Kiba was still trying to recover from the shock, probably because Sasuke had completely forgotten to turn off the amp to stop it from ear raping Kiba. And now the brunette could be found cowering behind a tangle of sheets and pillows as he slowly kept edging away from the sound of the amplifier. It was too funny of a sight, honestly. In fact, the sound waves were so loud that they were actually causing Kiba’s scruffy-ass hair to be pushed back wildly.

The raven took his sweet ass time as he sat on the amp lazily, running a hand through his hair like nothing was happening. _Oops_ , he thought half-heartedly as he flicked the switch on the piece of equipment off.

He held back a smirk that was instead replaced with a look of boredom as he slowly turned all dials to the lowest setting. “So… Have a nice nap there, mutt?”

It was only after Sasuke had turned off the amplifier and removed his ear plugs that he could hear Kiba’s undignified groans and whines, even though the feedback could no longer be heard. _It must still be ringing in his ears,_ the raven thought calmly. By the way the brunette reacted, Sasuke was sure. He still had a pair of lesser pillows pressed up against his ears in what looked to be pain and agony. Well that was a good sign, at least. Now he was sure Kiba wasn’t deaf yet either.

“Agghhh….B-bastard!! What the hell!? Nnngh…” The tattooed idiot growled helplessly as he continued to thrash around his bed. He was acting so violent that Sasuke was beginning to think that Kiba might’ve gotten a leg cramp in the middle of the whole thing if his actions were any indication, until…

He saw it coming. He did.

_Let’s just hope he doesn’t go retarded because of this._

**_THUMP!_ **

“ _SHIT_ , MAN!! **_SHIT!!”_ ** Kiba bit out as he nursed the now newly formed bump on his head. “FUCKING **_HELL!!!”_**

_Never mind, he’s fine._

If Kiba had the time and energy to curse even after being pounded on the head, than he was okay in Sasuke’s book. Despite this, Sasuke whistled. What could he say? He was just someone worth falling off the bed for. Not to mention that Kiba’s curse-o-meter was off the charts today.

“FUCKING PIECE OF _SHIT!!_ HOW DID I NOT LAND ON A SINGLE FUCKING PILLOW WHEN I WAS BEING FUCKING SMOTHERED BY THE LITTLE FUCKERS?!?! AH HELL, MY **_HEAAAAAD.”_**

Shit, Sasuke wanted to laugh. This was just too hysterical to listen to. Kiba was always so fucking fun to piss off; it almost made him feel bad. Well, _almost_ anyways. It didn’t help that the idiot had such terrible luck either.

The sound of a door being slammed shut on the lower level was heard, temporarily taking Sasuke’s mind off the spiky-haired brunette who continued to curse colourfully over the throbbing pain at the back of his head. The pale teen strained his ears to listen to who their visitor was, although he already had a pretty clear idea of who it could be.

“Ah, sounds like you guys are getting along well. As usual…”

“And sorry for being late. Y’know how life is. Full of unexpected turns and journeys.”

And apparently he was right. Sasuke would recognize that low and bored, but young voice anywhere. It differed from Kakashi’s in that it sounded a little more lively and rich while Kakashi’s voice was more dull and smooth. And if he was not mistaken, that very man and Kakashi were making their way up right now.

“This whole thing is just a drag.” He could hear Shikamaru respond as a pair of footsteps neared the bedroom they were in.

Sasuke craned his head back when Kakashi, the second of the two visitor’s to speak, called out, “Playing nice, Sasuke?”

Sasuke shot him a blank look while successfully pushing back a naughty grin. “You could say that.”

“Oh hell that must’ve sucked. We could hear the feedback from a block away! That was pretty cruel.” The young and low voice responded again.

“Ah, Yamato.” The young Uchiha greeted the other man with a nod. “I’m just living up to my reputation, that’s all.” He responded coolly.

“So where’s Kiba?” Kakashi inquired the boy in a mild attempt to make sure that the other was fine and still alive.

“On the other side of the bed.” Sasuke answered, jabbing a finger behind him. Kakashi noticed in mild amusement that the sheets and pillows had, when no one was looking or paying attention, avalanched on Kiba’s ass.

The silver-haired manager lifted a hand in greeting while standing on his tippy toes to see the fallen teen who was currently hidden underneath a mass of pillows and bed covers. “Yo, how’s it going Kiba?” His eye curved up happily, indicating that his smile was present.

There was a muffled groaned as Kiba ripped himself free from the pile of crap that had amassed up on him when he fell down and dragged everything to the ground with him. “I just hit my stupid head because of some inconsiderate asshole, but no yeah. I’m totally fine. Just. Fucking. _Dandy_.” He gritted out the last part with pure sarcasm tightly laced into his words while he unintentionally emphasized it due to the smacking to his ears he was currently doing in what everyone assumed was for the benefit of his hearing. Although it didn’t seem like it was doing much.

Kakashi only nodded at this, satisfied and silently telling himself that, _Yup. He’ll live, alright._

“That aside…” the assistant manager drawled out with a funny face on him, “We’d better get going. It’s already four forty-five and it’s about a thirty minute drive to the airport, not including the time it’ll take to load everything into the limo and the time it’ll take to pass through the lines and mobs once we do manage to get there.

 _Oh, the mobs._  Sasuke couldn’t help but groan. He’d forgotten all about those, but news of the band departing for a Japan Tour had spread around faster than an AIDS pandemic could ever hope to. And that irritated Sasuke like nothing else, because that meant that there would definitely be a horde of news reporters, paparazzi, and—he twitched—uh…fangirls….and well, probably some fanboys too, but those weren’t usually as fervent as the fangirls, so that at least wasn’t so bad. Err, sometimes anyways. You could always find a couple of fanboys that were more like the fangirls, only in a man’s body, so at that point, he couldn’t really tell which was more disturbing…

Going with both of them being equally as bad, he just sighed.

The only reason why he and his posse didn’t get mobbed at his school was because the principle had made sure that they were to be treated like regular students. The consequence from breaking this said rule was detention. Simple, but brutal. Detention wasn’t really that bad of a punishment per se, but let me be frank with you, everyone’s way too afraid to get one. It ruins people’s lives, I tell you. It causes missed job interviews, canceled dates, and wasted play time. So despite it being seemingly harmless, detentions could bite you in the ass more than one might originally be led to believe. And that’s why they suck so severely. Not to mention that depending on whom you get detention with, you might end up doing work rather than sleeping away the pain, and that was usually the case, if one wanted to add insult to injury.

Now as for them not getting mobbed _after_ school, paparazzi were strictly forbidden to step afoot on school grounds unless authorized. If they ever dared to do so though, they would be stopped by police officers and quite possibly fined. It wasn’t a pretty sight to see, but it happened. This was why it was a much more common sight to see bushes scurrying around the school more often than one should say common at all. But it was pretty entertaining to see the paparazzi and their internal struggles, so the band never said anything. Most of the paparazzi, the smarter lot, Sasuke supposed, preferred playing it safe by just snapping pictures on the sidelines. This was okay with the Uchiha so long as they kept their distance.

Shrugging his thoughts aside, Sasuke got up to load his guitar and amp into the limo now that they were already in his possession. He sighed as he thought of all the crap they were going to have to load. It was true that usually major stars like them had other people to do it for them, but since they liked being largely independent, they always insisted that they were very much capable themselves. It also didn’t help when people noticed them because of the twenty-seven body guards Konoha sent as they carried the band members’ things. After all, they had to keep reminding Tsunade that, no, having a group of black-clad-burly men carrying your stuff was _not_ a normal occurrence in the lives of the typical citizenry. But like the spoiled princess she had been raised to be as the granddaughter of the man who had founded the company, she just shrugged and called Shizune over so that they could go gambling and drinking. Her assistant/secretary didn’t at all agree with the blonde woman’s little “get-aways”, but obliged anyways since, as mentioned before, Tsunade was a frightening being when angered.

The raven couldn’t help but wonder who ran the company when the busty old hag was away gambling, but decided that he probably already knew the answer to that one: No one. And although this caused him to flinch slightly at the disorderly and irresponsible way their boss managed things, he hulled his suitcase away, sliding on some sunglasses so that maybe people wouldn’t recognize him as quickly and therefor create an opening escape route for him and less as a means to keep the sunlight out of his eyes. He fought back another sigh as he slid onto the velvety seats of the white limousine next to Kiba who was fiddling with his 3DS XL again, offering up Sasuke’s own special edition Legend of Zelda 3DS so that they could play some hardcore Megaman Starforce multiplayer.

Oh yeah, long day, today was going to be indeed. But at least he’d have his games to kill time with…and Kiba. _Crazy civilians, here we come!_


	3. Show Me To The Dancefloor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The picture below is their penthouse xD just FYI (I know, I can't do perspective for shit.)

“Oh man, Chouji. Come here and get a load of this.” Shikamaru smirked slightly as Neji videotaped a very much disgusted Sasuke who kept leaning away from a very drooling, half-awake Kiba who in turn insisted unconsciously that he should rest on him to sleep properly. This continued for quite a while as the band’s idol repeatedly deviated away from his fellow band member as said band member continued to groan sleepily at all of his failed attempts at getting a decent pillow. When Kiba’s head came rolling back to Sasuke’s shoulder for the millionth time this past hour and his slobber came in too close for comfort, Sasuke finally snapped. _Screw being on my best behaviour, this idiot is getting a piece of my mind!_ He thought with disdain as he watched the saliva trail on Kiba’s chin slide even lower. It was almost like watching a horror movie.

“Gross, just look at him.” Neji whispered in half-amusement, half-revulsion.

Chouji stared with almost awe as Kiba swayed like a ghost trying to find its resting place. “Fascinating, ain’t it? Hell, he’s not even conscious…” He knitted his brows together in practical disbelief. “How does he even manage to sleep like that at all?” he wondered aloud.

“How long do ya’ll think before Kiba gets drool on Sasuke?” Shikamaru contemplated.

“I bet five on Kiba dying first.” Sai chimed in with a gleam in his eye, almost as if he was hoping.

“Ssh! Sssh! Wait! Here he comes again!”

And just as faithful as a pendulum, sure enough, Kiba came rocking back, the four boys huddled close on their knees to watch the action fire. As if on cue, this time Sasuke whacked Kiba with his upright fist in one graceful motion while Kiba recoiled all at once in a not-so-fluid motion.

“JESUS FUCKING CHRIST, WHAT WAS _THAT_ FOR!?!?” An immensely confuzzled but now wide-awake Kiba shrieked, making everyone else on the plane turn to him in either mild amusement or obvious disapproval for his vulgar vocabulary.

“You were swinging around like some old drunkard. And if that wasn’t bad enough, you were also drooling like a stupid mutt dreaming of bones.” The raven retorted with a snort.

“Oh…” the other boy nodded, as if in mutual understanding. “…Wait, what!?!” He shook his head and turned to look at the other in a mixture of embarrassment and disbelief. “I was totally _not_ drooling like a dog dreaming of _bones!!”_

“Uh, yeah you were, idiot.” The other, cooler teen deadpanned.

Shikamaru sank back in his seat since he had already watched the funniest part anyway while high-fiving a triumphant Neji as he stopped the recording and did the same. The pale eyed teen had already taken many pictures of Sasuke shoving a zombified Kiba all over the plane so he was pretty much satisfied as well. And although he didn’t really like fangirls, fangirls paid, and that managed to help recompense for the rock stars’ daily expenses, and it also got him money to buy better software and such.

It was a funny sight really, the plane, since half of the large thing was jammed with Konoha staff that were accompanying the rock stars on their little trip. You were probably wondering why they hadn’t decided to just take a private plane in style instead of taking a more public flying vehicle awkwardly, eh? Well, you’d be surprised to hear that the old hag was actually pretty stingy, so of course she’d pick public transport over any fancy ‘private’ source of travel. So that’s how they had ended up all wedged in between seats with a bunch of every-day civilians staring at them like they were gods, with the exception of a few who watched them warily as if realizing at some point that this was more trouble than it was worth. And they were probably the smarter ones, because they were absolutely right. The plane had turned into some sort of “not-so-high-class” celebrity party with fans creeping over chairs and snagging pictures of their beloved idols. It was kind of creepy, they’d admit but the staff did an expertly job well done when it came down to pretending like the fans weren’t even there.

This was an easy feat for Neji since he was actually a very famous actor who was looking to become a director as the next step in his career, hence the whole ‘cameraman’ thing. It was a good way to get experience, especially since he got a lot of help from the professionals at Konoha who edited and videotaped the band’s and many other famous artists’ music videos.

Although Sasuke and the other members of his band weren’t actual actors, they fared well since they did act in a lot of music videos. Although Kiba didn’t act. He just complied with all the wishes of his ‘adoring’ fans as they began to file into lines to get autographs and pictures with the star. Chouji was similar but in a much more modest fashion and not nearly as flashy and loud as the other while Shikamaru and Sasuke just made it obvious that they did not want to be disturbed. They still allowed for faraway pictures as long as they were not spoken to in the process. After all, it wasn’t like they could avoid every single photograph taken by sneaking fans no matter how skilled they were, right? Because they didn’t have eyes on the back of their head. And even then, there were fans from just about every-ass angle you could think of, so struggling was as futile as trying to convince Chouji to share his last chip with a colleague. And when you didn’t try to think too logically about it, fans could pull off just about any dammed thing if they were motivated enough. Like how someone just managed to snag of photo of him from—what should have been—an impossible angle.

_How the hell do they even do that?_

But alas, this didn’t stop girls from cutting it close and hiding behind chairs as they chanced peeks at the two teens. At least they had some sense as they were aware that making goo-goo eyes wasn’t particularly attractive, and so instead, just admired from the closest spots they could render as “safe-zones”.

Along with the staff and—hell, even body guards—there were many _‘tweet’s_ and _‘ping’s_ heard as people posted that they actually managed to get on the same plane as one of the world’s hottest boy bands, while the staff just updated their statuses, writing things along the lines of, _“TOKYO, OMFG! HOLY SHAT. HERE I COME WASABI!”_

Sasuke tried not to remember the disaster it was just to get on the stupid plane. There had been, as predicted, about a five thousand or so large crowd of squealing and crying fans as the boys walked into the airport with wide eyes. Luckily, Sasuke had his trusty sunglasses on, so the only thing that was visible was where his eyebrows had gone up and hidden behind his long bangs in slight surprise. The security at the airport had all shot them tired and annoyed looks as they pushed back the “adoring public” with some difficulty. They shrugged sheepishly back at them in an apologetic manner, hoping that they understood that they had not disclosed the information themselves.

Of course they had tried to keep the whole thing secret until they had gotten on the plane safely to avoid crazy mobs like these and to stop people from trying to book the plane they would be taking, but of course, suspicious as it was, word always got out somehow and the wild fandom came rearing its ugly head back at them like the child of Karma and the Apocalypse all bundled in one.

It remained like this for a while until Kiba felt the growing need to complain about when they’d flipping get there. After all, they were “ _only_ crossing the Pacific Ocean”, he said, as if it was nothing but a puddle they were flying over. Damn mutt.

“Oh, come _on_. Are we there yet?!” he whined, throwing himself all over the seat in a futile attempt to get comfortable. He’d already slept for at least four hours and he couldn’t stand to close his eyes again for even five damn minutes. His body just wouldn’t allow anymore sleep, despite the boredom that bore into him like the plague. But Sasuke knew that if you gave him an hour or two, he’d fall asleep again. He always managed to when he was bored out of his mind.

“Kiba, it’ll be atleast another three hours until we get there. It takes about 12 hours at most to get from LA to Tokyo.” Sasuke replied monotonously, adding a mental, _shut up_ at the end of his statement. The prior first five hours of flight had been spent playing games with Kiba through their cellular devices and reading, and he wasn’t exactly excited to be sitting here with games he’d already played over and over, but he didn’t find whining worthy of his time either.

Kiba groaned in his seat again as he shifted uncomfortably. “AUGH! What’s the point of taking planes if they take so damn long! I have to pee! _And_ I’m hungry again!” he whined, as if Sasuke would actually give a fuck.

And just as Sasuke was about to say something douchey but witty back to prove this, _it_ began. _Oh god no. They wouldn’t **dare** …_

Yup, apparently they would.

Ino, Chouji, and Lee started to sing the beginning to **_Ready To Go_** by Panic! At the Disco and he just knew he couldn’t let them down. Damn it all to hell. Fortunately, or rather unfortunately depending on what angles you looked at it, Kiba perked up, chiming in while he thrummed his fingers to the drummer’s part expertly, jumping at the opportunity like a dog being tempted with treats. Anything to beat boredom, he supposed.

He sighed as he heard more voices singing along, the ones he didn’t recognize obviously being those of the civilians on board. _Oh hell, it’s better than dealing with Kiba._

The raven inhaled deeply before he began smoothly.

 

_You've got these little things_

_That you've been running from_

_You either love them or I guess you don't_

_You're such a pretty thing_

_To be running from anyone_

_A vision with nowhere to go_

 

_So tell me right now_

_You think you're ready for it?_

_I wanna know_

_Why you got me going_

_So let's go_

_We'll take it out of here_

_I think I'm ready to leap_

_I'm ready to live_

_I'm ready to go—_

 

Right here, everyone on the plane began to sing the background vocals.

 

 

_Get me out of my mind!_

_Get me out of my mind!_

 

Sasuke sang out the foreground chorus again.

 

_I'm ready to go—_

The plane cheered.

_Oh oh oh oh oh,_

**_Oh oh oh oh oh!!_ **

 

It continued this way until the end of the song, where everyone sang at full volume before they began to clap wildly with boisterous cheering, whistling, and laughing, the Konoha staff all beaming as everyone’s mood had suddenly lifted. As corny as it sounded, Sasuke surprisingly could make music seem so damn magical. Like one minute, you were grumpy, and then after hearing him sing, you suddenly felt light-hearted and incredibly euphoric. It had to be something in his calm, low and rich voice that did the trick, but whatever it was, it could boost your spirits and hull you up onto cloud 9.

Kinda like crack.

…

Yeah that’s right, Sasuke Uchiha’s voice was the equivalent to 32 doses of crack. What of it?

Sasuke huffed as strangers began to pat him on the back and cheer some more. Everyone was a bit _too_ giddy for his liking. He did not appreciate being touched, thank you very much, but he complied, even if it was only for the better of the benefit. Damn publicity.

He cracked a small smile though, always feeling the same way after a good vocal workout. And that was when he remembered just why he was in the music business. Singing felt _good_. He couldn’t lie to himself about that one. When he sang, he felt so free, and quite frankly, _alive_. And… he liked that. He liked feeling like nothing could stop him, as if there wasn’t anything he had to worry about. It all just felt so great. It was like letting go of all your worries and releasing all those bottled up emotions. It shattered whatever walls he had built around him as he focused solely on the song, engulfed by the light feeling.

Indeed it was like his happy place.

He mumbled out small “Thank you’s as people continued to compliment him and push him around, the small smile on his lips making approaching girls stop to venerate it, and then promptly faint at the sight they only dreamed of but never thought they’d actually live to see. He flinched ever so slightly as he heard a couple of _Thumps!’s_ as they fell smack onto chairs or carpet floor, or even on people. Now that was more amusing.

Ah crap, he had smiled again, hadn’t he? To check, he made himself voluntarily frown to feel whether or not his lips had been quirking upward. Sure enough, they were, even if it were only a little. Damn.

He mused this over for a while, glancing at the fallen bodies with some interest. Maybe he _should_ smile more if it made girls pass out so easily at his feet. That way, he wouldn’t have to actually deal with them. He could just run.

He nodded, setting up his strategy for when they returned to the mobs back home. Although he was probably going to want to practice his smile… Nah. He was an Uchiha, meaning that he was naturally good at everything. Not only that, but he was willing to bet that even if his smile wasn’t perfect—not that it wouldn’t be, mind you—the fan clubs would _still_ swoon. He was just that good.

Hell, if his presence could make some girls collapse in awe, imagine what power a small smile could add to that? Oh he was gonna have fun for once, that was for sure. He smirked at the thought of walking over all of the fallen masses, making the staff look at him quizzically and slightly scared for their lives. It made the rest of the female passengers and flight attendants faint.

_Watch the bodies hit the floor!_

 

* * *

 

After much hardship and fighting, the band managed to make it out of the aircraft alive and in one piece. They were all relatively unharmed except for Kiba, who notably came out with a bump on the top of his spiky-haired head as he rubbed it… But then again, when didn’t he come out with some sort of injury?

He trudged out of the plane grumbling something about stupid ice princes’ and their stupid temper and violent tendencies, making Sasuke grin for the first time since their little karaoke party. Speaking of which, Neji had probably recorded the whole thing, and Ino was definitely going to want to upload it onto the band’s blog later like she seemingly did with everything.

Everything… huh. She did upload everything, didn’t she? Humm…

Why did that seem to strike a deaf chord?

…

_Everything—_

Ah shit.

Sasuke face palmed as Ino walked out grinning like she had just won the latest copy of the _Make Out_ series Kakashi seemed to be so obsessed with. No. Oh god no. She snickered into her phone as she twiddled with it like she was submitting illegal documents onto the black market for big bucks, and most likely kind of was, only… it was for free. Hopefully? Hell, if she was thinking about making money off him, she should at least hand over the majority profits to him, right? But he’d enjoy it even more if she just completely refrained from publicly displaying images of the band’s daily predicaments to herself! Damn it all to hell! There was no mistaking that she had taken a picture of it!

He quickly flipped out his own phone to check the status on the band’s blog to see if she had posted anything there. If not, he could always search her up on Ebay… maybe even on some—okay yeah. There was no way in hell he was checking out her accounts on Yaoi websites. That would just be a nightmare. He inwardly cringed at the thought and decided that he could just hi-jack her phone later and check the history or something. Her notifications might work too—ah **_hell!_** He was going to **_kill_ ** her!

He gripped the phone tightly, resisting the urge to hurl it at some random and totally ignorant civilian as he glared straight through the picture displaying itself on the screen innocuously, as if hoping to burn a hole through it just by looking at it. Hey, he was an Uchiha, and Uchiha’s could do anything. _Anything_ dammit!

He growled menacingly, which for some reason seemed to make all the girls on the plane blush. _What the hell...? **“INO!”**_

The platinum blonde turned to look at the source of her income sheepishly. “What’s up, Sasuke?” she chirped, giving him her best innocent smile.

He practically stomped towards her—in which Ino couldn’t help but think was so super-duper cute for him—as he thrust the phone into her face, despite both of them knowing exactly what the other was thinking. And just as Ino had predicted, there smack in her face was the picture that explained why Kiba was currently sporting such a rad looking bump on his head at the moment. Sasuke was sleeping soundly with a scruffy looking Kiba head lying comfortably on top of Sasuke’s with his mouth agape and drool falling from his mouth. At least it hadn’t reached the raven’s head by the time he noticed the extra weight, but she supposed he still had the right to be embarrassed if the little hearts she had edited in were any indication to implications.

“Err, nice photo ya got there.” she replied placidly. It was obvious she was trying to hide a giggle and he was about ready to strangle her.

He growled again, but sighed, twitching his anger back instead. “It’s not _my_ photo.” He spat, and then silently chided himself at the obvious tone of indignation he had used instead of his usual stoical demeanor. _Calm, Sasuke. Remain calm._ He exhaled once more before imagining a little Sasuke punching his shoulder supportively. _Come on! You can do it! You’re an Uchiha! Show ‘em what you got!_

Sasuke glared daggers at his mini self but just “Tch”’ed. “You’re going to remove the picture…right?” He asked, this time with no emotion, but underlying a sense of death if defied.

Ino held back the urge to take a step back as she shot him her best puppy dog look. “But, _Sassi!_ I rely on these sorts of pictures and the band’s blog as a living! You couldn’t possibly take that away from me, now could you?”

His brow twitched in irritation. Although he wanted to say that he very well damn could and would, he realized he wasn’t as harsh as he’d once thought to believe, making him slightly _more_ ticked off.

“Besides,” she winked at him as he snapped his attention back up to the baby blue-eyed female. “If you hadn’t noticed, Mr. Grumpy Grumps, the whole world already knows you’re as sexually attracted to anything as pebbles are to the ground.” She added sweetly, hoping that would make him cool off a bit and more reassured over their little dilemma.

He snorted, realizing that she was right and that a silly photo probably wouldn’t change a thing about his outer appearance. He was still uninterested and it was just a joke after all, although a crude one at that, but he supposed he could let slide, if only to avoid breaking any expensive equipment they had that had the ability to capture pictures. “Hn, do what you want, but you didn’t have to feed the fangirls’ fire. I don’t even want to know what’ll happen on the internet because of this.”

Clapping her hands gleefully in achievement, she gave the raven a quick, tight squeeze around his upper bicep with her arms and proceeded to stroll away with her phone in hand, a bag in the other, and with at least three body guards lugging around her luggage after her. He ignored the sudden urge to scrunch up his face in distaste at how she could so easily ignore the idea, shaking it off his shoulders instead and slipping on his sunglasses as he walked behind her down the steps out the plane. He didn’t feel like going blind to all the camera’s that would be flashing sporadically as he stepped down to greet the island country and its brightly coloured and animated inhabitants.

And just as expected, right there as they crossed the door out into the wild, they were bathed in splashes of light with the sounds of clicking buttons repeatedly echoing constantly after one another. This was followed by an alarming large crowd of Japanese looking civilians of all ages, most notably high-schoolers it seemed. They all watched in disbelief as the American idols promenaded casually but importantly down the lanes towards the exit where they’d be checked once more for good measure and then take off to do their own business that did not concern the general public. There was a lot of gasping and squealing as they caught sight of the ethereal-looking Uchiha who gave off the impression that he couldn’t be bothered. Everyone’s eyes widened as his perfect form made its way farther away from them. It was as if the likelihood of someone looking so gorgeous couldn’t exist. Well Japan was about to meet the world’s number one sex-machine and eligible bachelor of his age group alive. Ladies and Gentleman of the eastern hemisphere, we present to you, Sasuke Uchiha!

As a vigorous Kiba began winking to all the ladies, making at least half of them blush and squeal, Sasuke slapped him across the back of his head, still slightly pissed for the picture that was currently also being fangirled overseas. He knew it wasn’t his fault entirely, but then it kind of was, so that was a good enough reason for him. Besides, he hated it when Kiba made the crowds even more raucous.

“Stop that,” he hissed.

The brunette turned to look at him after yelping from the whack he’d just received, earning Sasuke a glare from the other. “Ack! Will you stop that!? And what did I do _this_ time?!!?” Kiba half-whined and half-growled.

“You know exactly what you’re doing.” Sasuke scoffed. “Don’t incite them more, idiot.”

Kiba looked down at his feet and hunched over like a kid who was being reprimanded by their mother. “I’m not.” He insisted.

Chouji derided. “Sure, you’re not, with all that winking and grinning.”

Kiba only rubbed the back of his head solemnly. “So what if I am then? They’re still there, and it builds good reputation.”

The other three boys shrugged, as if they couldn’t care less about reputation.

“It’s our job to sing, not to flatter. This isn’t a host club.”

“Shut up!” Kiba whined.

“Bite me.” Sasuke challenged.

Kiba stared at him for a while, as if actually considering it, but then thought better of it when Sasuke reminded him that he was a martial arts genius by readying himself in a fighting stance that had _death_ written all over it.

“Yeaaaah, nah… I think I’m good.” He said quickly, scampering off with his imaginary tail in-between his legs. Sasuke smirked in truimph.

_And that’s how it’s done._

 

* * *

 

A young boy with unruly blonde hair snickered as he hid behind the directory and watched from afar, a silent entity of fur pressing up against his leg lightly in sync with him. The two craned their heads around the corner to see what all the commotion was about.

The two had managed to easily slip through security at the airport, both being experts in such fields, and hide past roaming police officers that were probably already wary of them like everyone else in the accursed country seemed to be. After all, the two had come to be known as quite the notorious little duo around Tokyo, and if any mischief had been detected off either one, they were to be immediately brought into custody. They weren’t quite allowed to stick them behind bars for reasons that were unknown to him, but the blue-eyed individual just shrugged.

Upon the pair of eyes setting their sights on a group of rich looking celebrities, the blonde’s eyes promptly widened—then he gaped—and then finally, he whooped loudly, jumping up in a victorious manner. He grabbed his accomplice’s paws and danced around with him in a silly manner as they—or rather as the blonde dragged and pulled the other—bopped around the directory. His companion tried to break away from the his stupid friend’s iron grip, but he eventually gave in when he realized it was as useless as trying to keep the blonde sitting still for an hour. He just harrumphed as they continued to hop like the hopeless lot they were, his face remaining a stubborn straight expression all the while. On the other side of him though, the tanned boy seemed overly exuberant, almost to the point where it could make anyone spontaneously combust, he’d just about say.

The stupid rumors of American artists coming to Japan weren’t so stupid after all! Yes, this was perfect, and he’d enjoy it to the fullest! The other fuzzy creature just rolled its eyes intelligently to show its disgust and lack of interest in the little proof, earning him a laugh from the blonde.

“Oh come on, Ra-chan! Imagine all the shenanigans we could pull off on them while we steal their fancy whatsits and stuff! We could make big bucks off them, ne?” He grinned and winked.

The body of fur just looked away, doing something akin to a condescending grunt.

Chuckling some more, the cheery one of the lot ruffled the others cherry tinted fur and ears affectionately as a form of saying _“Ah, well either way, good job”._

As the slim creature tried not to look stupidly taken in by the other boy’s deep cobalt eyes that were full of warmth and artificial happiness, it made to bite the others hand after it felt that it had been there long enough. Although he’d admit to it feeling nice, he would never actively show such pleasure…consciously anyways. He’d admit to having done so a couple of times, but by now, he could mostly restrain himself. After all, he couldn’t be caught dead in a situation like that, now could he? He still had his beastly pride!

The animal’s companion just laughed some more at the other’s vicious nature but luckily dodged the attack. The red mass of fur gave a soft snort and the blonde gave him a kind smile.

“Guess we’d better go home and prepare then, huh? There’s much to do with these change of plans.” He remarked, standing importantly, resembling the stance of superman, and looking down at his partner in crime, whom was beginning to show a spark of interest despite the dull look he bore. The blonde only cackled evilly as he rubbed his tanned hands mischievously.

Let the fun commence!

 

* * *

 

“I didn’t realize we already had a Japanese fanbase.” The raven replied somewhat indignantly.

Their little crew had made it through airport security and were now following the mob of bodyguards who were currently dragging along their luggage’s despite their wishes. Well, at least his anyways. Everyone else seemed to be okay with their help, especially after the long exhausting trip they had endured that included almost no movement at all, but Sasuke didn’t quite feel the same. As always, he remained stubborn when it came to showing his dependence on others. He was fine alone, and he intended to show it too.

“Yeah, well Japan does have American entertainment too. I’m not really sure how it works, but I did hear that they get to enjoy a lot of our music and stuff.” Ino replied thoughtfully.

“So in other words, we aren’t really introducing the band like we had planned?” Kiba answered back thoughtfully, squinting as he rubbed at his imaginary beard.

Shikamaru looked at him inquiringly while they all stood loitering in the hotel lobby until Kakashi and Yamato managed to find some decent rooms for them to stay in. “You do realize that this particular fact doesn’t really change our objective? We are still continuing on our original plan. After all, we are trying to gain more followers and such. This may very well work in our favour.”

Kiba looked at him in a slightly dumbfounded manner as he gave a slight nod. “Yeah, okay I guess..?”

Sasuke sighed. “Kiba, if we already have fans, then they might help us in promoting the band quicker.” He explained simply, although he wasn’t sure why he even bothered in the first place. It’s not like he gave damn whether the thick-headed brunette got it or not.

Kiba perked up in understanding. “Ah! I get it!” Then suddenly, Kiba looked at them indignantly with a frown marring his features. “I mean, well yeah! I got that!” He then ‘hmpf’ed and looked away mightily.

The staff just turned to look at each other with mild amusement.

“Riiight… Anyway, we’d better get settled in quickly, ‘cause I’m starving. Anyone else up for some grub?” Ino grinned shamelessly while lifting an energetic fist to show her passion.

Chouji was automatically the first one to offer support unsurprisingly, lifting a hand to agree. “Oh! I am!”

Slowly, everyone began to agree that yes, they were hungry after the stupid plane ride in which they had filled themselves with stupid bland peanuts that never seemed to run out and that, hell yes, foreign food, here we come. There were sudden shouts of excitement on what Japanese cuisine would be like as the team began to converse in food options and what they thought would be good or interesting to try out.

Suddenly, Kiba rolled off the couch he had been occupying and plopped onto the floor like goop. “Ah shit! I forgot about how hungry I was! But screw the foreign cuisine, I want my American food!!” he grumbled like a spoiled child.

Shikamaru peered at them dully. “Well, you can find a McDonalds just about anywhere if that’s what you were getting at.”

Kiba looked up tiredly, clutching a random vase of flowers that hadn’t been there before. The gang looked at him with popping eyes wondering just how out of it the guy was. “Heh, McDees is AWESOME. It’s every kid’s dream!” He started to pet the expensive looking vase as if it was a puppy.

Ino then leaned over to Sasuke worriedly, who gave a slightly confused look over to Kiba with an expression that could’ve been mistaken for apprehension. “Hey, I’m starting to wonder if all your abuse has started to affect him, and in weird ways...” His shoulders tensed slightly at the blonde’s shoulder brushing up against his. He ignored giving her a peeved look as Kiba was much more disturbing at the moment, and the thought of it being all his fault made it just all the more worrisome.

 _Ugh, it better not be, or else I’ll have to take responsibility for it. And I’m not going to. Or well at least not properly. Instead, I would just finish what I started and just bury him somewhere. Siri knows where to anyways. She’ll tell me. I always knew I was destined for this. God has sent me here to kill Kiba. I knew it._ Hey, if the previous events with the dog-lover weren’t any indication to this revelation, then Sasuke didn’t know what was. To him though, it was obvious what he had to do, and upon wondering over it, he found himself speculating over just when the opportunity would present itself for him to carry out his destiny. Maybe he could do it the old-fashioned way and smother him in pillows? Nah. That would be too noisy. Maybe a poisoned dog treat would be a more fitting end?

Sasuke’s train of thought was interrupted when practically everyone he knew began toppling over Kiba in a not-so-vain struggle to take the vase away from him before he broke it. Why the idiot would ever want to was puzzling everyone’s mind at the moment. The tattooed idiot was flailing under the piling bodies hurling themselves onto him as he insisted that his puppy had to be put down and that it had lived through enough pain and agony.

“This is what he wants! We have no right to interfere!!” Kiba cried out exasperated and defensively as everyone else tried not to think of how much money the stupid vase was going to cost them. After all, they might’ve been frugal when it came to their budget but they still insisted in finding a fancy hotel. But money was still money, and they did not want to waste it when they knew they could avoid doing so. I mean, who knew when they would _actually_ need it!

“Yeah… We should probably take him out to eat soon. Y’know, before things get even more troublesome.” Shikamaru yawned tiredly in the middle of his sentence, wondering why he even bothered with them sometimes. Oh yeah, some corny crap about friendships and rainbows. Ah whatever. He wiped away at the sleep-induced tear that had managed to crawl out of his drooping black eyes.

Sasuke only rolled his eyes as he made his way toward the heap on the floor where a war had instigated over the life of one stupid vase. As he stepped onto the battlefield, many ignored what they were doing to stare at him with a mixture of relief, curiosity, and worry. His sudden presence brought a heavy feeling of authority that weighed them down like a very thick and undiminishing fog. You could practically hear the lone cowboy music playing (1) as his silhouette danced over the floor, only stopping when it finally enveloped Kiba’s shaking figure in its unmerciful grasp. As everyone watched with growing anticipation towards what the almighty and great Uchiha Sasuke would do, they all practically fell over when Sasuke karate chopped Kiba’s carotid artery (2) in one swift motion. Only an Uchiha could successfully knock someone out with such grace and elegance that it practically pissed the rest of the world and its inhabitants off. Even the security guards that had tagged along seemed slightly deterred.

As the raven turned to regard them all, everyone immediately tensed for fear of them facing the same sorry fate Kiba had. They were all gruesomely reminded of the boy’s expertise in the martial arts field as well as music theory, making their not-so-sweet-star-to-begin-with seem all the more menacing. Like they needed that over his icy and stuck up personality. Seemingly unfazed himself, Sasuke simply grabbed Kiba’s jacket collar before deciding to drag him over to the elevator “I expect someone to order food within 10 minutes, so you’d all better start deciding on what food to order. And yes, I expect take out from the people I’ll be sharing a room with. If I don’t have some sort of edible object in my hand by then, I swear I’m shoving _non-edible_ objects down the mutt’s throat.” He deadpanned while pointing an ostensibly innocent finger towards the now unconscious and drooling brunette in his lazy grip, as if he hadn’t just assaulted an acquitted, albeit slightly deranged man. Everything had fallen silent in-between the short moments where the elevator doors begun to awkwardly close shut.

“So…he’s not dead?”

“You can cancel the ambulance, Chouji.”

Shikamaru just rubbed the back of his neck in a stressful manner. “What a drag.”

 

* * *

 

“I wanna be with Sasuke!” Ino pouted, yelling at the male who now sat dazedly on the couch in the middle of the indoor café next to the pool inside the hotel.

“Too bad, blondie! Sasuke’s my best buddy so you’ll just have to deal!” Kiba answered back furiously between his lemon ice cake and a mocha cookie crumble Frappuccino, causing him to spit out bits and crumbs as he said so. Ino ducked his spits of fury with annoyance. Since Kiba had awoken before their take out had arrived, the band had settled on shoving the brunette into the Starbucks on the first floor for a snack while he waited for the “main course”, and Kiba sure as hell wasn’t about to protest having desert before dinner.

Ino just looked at him distastefully but continued anyways, wincing as chunks of cookie continued to lash out in her direction. “Yeah, but you guys already live together back in America, so why can’t I just share a room with him for one measly _week!?”_

“Because we’re both guys and you’re a girl and you shouldn’t be sleeping in the same room as a guy anyways!” Kiba growled, wolfing down his snack as though it would disappear any minute now if he didn’t consume of it quickly. He scowled back at the blonde who was now sending him a very dirty look.

“I think it’s obvious who Sasuke should bunk with.” Shino interjected while pushing his black shades back into place.

“Oh you’ve gotta be kidding me. Not you too, Shino!!” Kiba buried his head into his free hand exasperated. “And I thought we were friends!”

Shino cocked an eyebrow at him. “I’m not answering that.”

Kiba looked at him in puzzlement, not hesitating to shoot Ino a questioning look either as the other fellow eyed him blankly.

Ino sighed exasperatedly at Kiba’s obvious ignorance at the other boy’s feelings. “He’s still mad about you ignoring him and his bugs back when you got your ass handed by me and Sasuke’s amazing Mario Kart skills.” She explained roughly.

Kiba simply groaned. “First of all, I am going to ignore that last part of utter bull—“ Ino rolled her eyes with a small, mocking laugh, “and second, you’re not allowed to touch this ass. Look, I said I was sorry! How long are you going to hold me against that?! Besides, you know I find your bugs kind of, err, creepy?”

Shino remained passive as he eyed Kiba and his food idly.

The scruffy haired teen blinked between the quiet boy and his food confusedly when an idea hit him. “Erg, can I make it up to you by buying you some Starbucks?”

Shino sat down in between Ino and Kiba casually while glancing between the two. “Only if you’re paying, buddy.”

Kiba grunted, but relented. “You’d better damn well be glad you and I are childhood friends.” He rummaged his back pocket for his wallet with a sour expression at nothing in particular. “And this better make up for your hurt feelings, princess.”

Shino shrugged. “I think I can forgive you.”

Ino held back a snicker as Kiba got up to buy his friend whatever he wanted. “So does this mean I can have that room?”

“What!?” Kiba craned his head back to yell at her, but Shino grabbed him by the arm and saluted.

“He’s taken care of. After all, Sasuke would probably kill him before the week’s up, right, Kiba?” Shino grinned at his friend and the brunette sighed.

“You make a good point there, Shino.”

Ino was about to bask in her victory and thank them when she turned to see Sasuke heading towards the elevator. Instead, she called out to him quickly. “Hey, Sasuke!” she chirped.

The onyx haired boy turned to fix her with a blank stare, his posture relaxed. “Hmm?”

She smiled excitedly at him. “Mind if I bunk with you?” she asked hopefully, her eyes shining with delight that unsettled the other. He took a step back as if it would shield him from the sparkles and blinding light. His body was all of a sudden very tense.

He coughed. “Uhh, sorry Ino, but my room’s a solo, now. Didn’t Kakashi tell you?” He asked politely, not wanting to upset her too much. He might be a jerk to some girls, but Ino was his friend, and she was like a little sister to him, but that didn’t mean he was willing to share a bed with her just for the heck of it. He needed his space, not just from her but from everyone. It’s the whole reason why Kakashi had granted him permission to a one-man room. Letting her in kinda defeated the purpose.

Luckily, Ino knew a no when she heard one. Either way, she didn’t think she could even survive sleeping in a bed with freaken _Sasuke_. “Nah, it’s cool. I get it.” She said, waving a hand energetically, but drooping nonetheless.

Sasuke smiled gratefully, backtracking only so he could ruffle her hair. “Well, if that’s all you needed, I’m going to head up.”

She looked up, embarrassed at his sudden open-affection. “O-okay!” she ignored her messed up hair in favour of savouring the fact that Sasuke actually even touched her out of his own will. “Bye, Sasuke!” she smiled shyly. _‘screw bunking with him, I nearly had a heart attack from that alone!!’_ she thought worriedly.

Sasuke waved back at her as he trotted toward the elevator that had just lit up. The doors opened and he squeezed in, deep in thought as he pushed the button for the eighth floor.

He watched the dimming sky and its mixture of contrasting colors as it signaled the cities lights to energize the liveliness of the area through the expensive elevator’s glass-like interior and exterior, granting passengers an exquisite view. With the golden orange streaks fading into devouring blue, the city began to exhibit a night-time glow, like millions of fallen stars, some hardly moving in traffic, others stone-still in signs and lamp posts. The place was remarkably colourful, and the lights made pretty patterns wherever he went.

When he got to his floor, the halls were bright and welcoming, and the floors were shined to an almost mirror-like extent. He looked up from his key number to find its matching door and counted the numbers in his head until he reached his at the end of the hall, a suite. He shook his head. Kakashi liked to spoil them because he knew it made them uncomfortable, the bastard. A part of him knew, though, that he also did it in part because he liked doing it. Kakashi had always seen Sasuke like a son, even before he gained custody of him, and it probably helped ease his mind about neglecting him. Sasuke knew he had work, and he didn’t expect the single man to even know how to be a parent. Nevertheless, he was old enough to take care of himself, and he liked it better this way. Just knowing Kakashi was there was more than enough, considering he was all the family he had left. Or at least, family that wasn’t _missing_.

Sasuke rubbed absently at the back of his neck, his fingers seeming restless at his sides as he stepped into his room after sliding in the card key. He marveled at the overly large room and it’s way too luxurious contents. He had one of the nicest TV’s he’d ever seen, its length practically covering the side of the wall that came forward towards the bed to indicate a separation between it and the two smaller rooms to the sides of it. The left room, near the door, was a bathroom, which was also entirely too nice. It had a glass shower _and_  bathtub that he was pretty sure doubled as a Jacuzzi or something for god’s sake. Aside from almost everything being made of light marble and gold-colored accents, the place in general was all in all just too fancy for his liking. If his suite was like this, he wondered what regular rooms looked like. It seemed that Yamato and Kakashi were trying to make up for the cheap transport by letting them at least have overly decent housing.

He just shook his head with a low chuckle as he went to survey the second room, right from the flat screen latched onto wall and beside the wall that was mostly made of glass, similarly to the elevator. There were only a few patches where wall actually intercepted the glass and it was at the edges and right in the middle of the bedroom right wall, shadowing a small yet elegant table with a phone that had a card with the number for flipping room service. Walking into the second room (since it lacked an actual door unlike the bathroom, seeming to be more of a walk-in room) he noticed it was more of a study, also having a wall made entirely of glass, offering dark thick curtains like the bedroom as a way to block out the view in exchange for privacy, or just a darker environment.

He decided that the desktop that the suite seemed to offer would come in handy, though. Definitely good for keeping up with his studies, at least.

Noticing with slight surprise that his luggage had already been moved up _and_ unpackaged, his clothes in the provided closet, books neatly in their temporary shelves, etc, he made sure to remember to tip their bodyguards, whistling lowly as everything was already neatly placed where it belonged.

I guess him coming up here was for naught.

 

* * *

 

The group had agreed to party hard on their first night, much to Sasuke’s dismay, leading to a not-so-secret, open-street concert where the staff had gone flinging flyers to anyone who crossed their path. There was an abundance of lights, a surplus of food, and overall too much noise. Sasuke just knew that he was going to end up wrecked if he wasn’t careful. That’s why every time he was offered a strange coloured drink, he refused, insisting that someone had to stay sober. And judging by the way too hyped crowd, they were going to need a lot of level-headed people to help clear them out later.

“Oh come on, Sasuke! What’s with the serious face?” Kiba grinned excitedly, having dropped his supplies to wrap an arm around his shoulder. The other boy just grunted in response and Kiba rolled his eyes. “It’s a surprise party! Not some staring-contest! Now stop looking at everyone like they’re going to murder you and cheer up!”

Sasuke turned to look at him unwaveringly, conjecturing if Kiba even remembered who he was talking to. Shrugging his arm off him he just huffed. “Let’s get this over with.”

Temporarily, Kiba pouted but backed away, continuing to help with the equipment. Sasuke simply played with his microphone, wondering how the staff managed to get so many people rounded up in such a short amount of time. He could hear the other band members messing with the equipment in the back for any problems and he decided to go back and help them with the adjustments and tuning before the concert. It’s not like he had anything better to do anyway.

Ino was at the front, offering people admission for a small fee, and Chouji was helping at the food stand, practically taste-testing everything.

“Uhh, Chouchou, I’m pretty sure nothing’s poisoned. And if it was…you’d be dying…” Ino began hesitantly as she ushered another person in. She tucked the Japanese currency into a pouch around her hips and watched as Chouji sniffed something skeptically before taking a bite and then devouring it practically whole.

“I know it’s not poisoned, I’m just making sure this stuff is worth selling,” he assured, helping himself to some fish samples. “Also, we get to sell some foreign food and I want to try everything before we leave.” He explained a little more openly this time.

She shook her head and laughed as he surveyed some strange looking seafood with curiosity before poking it and eating it. “Well, I can understand that.” She grinned. The cooking crew they’d hired looked extremely wary of Chouji hovering over their food, but the head guy was more than pleased. He seemed to enjoy the looks of surprise Chouji gave when he tasted something new that he liked. Ino just knew they were going to get along really well in the next five minutes. Chouji tended to befriend a lot of people through his hobby of going out and trying new cuisine, and because of it, he knew a lot of different and exotic people. If anything, the head of the cooking team looked bashful but eager to approach him. Fortunately, Chouji looked up and noticed this. Immediately, he beamed, chatting with him and practically making the poor guy glow with his praises.

Ino just turned back to her work happily, knowing she wouldn’t be able to keep up with Chouji’s vast knowledge of food anyway.

She looked up suddenly when she noticed a flash of blonde in her peripheral. While it wasn’t uncommon to see blonde hair among the attendees (especially at a rock concert), it was almost always a Japanese citizen with dyed bleach blonde(among other various colours, both natural and unnatural) hair, but what she saw seemed _too_ natural. The girl briefly wondered if a tourist had wondered in but shrugged it off as nothing.

The band was just about ready to begin when the lights started to dim. Chouji looked up to see Kiba whistle over at him from behind the stereo, dropping the tarp to the stand on his way back to the stage.

“Alright guys, you’ve basically got it down. You were a little flat at the beginning of the chorus, Kiba, and the base seems a bit sharp,” Sasuke commented expertly as they hurried to get one short practice in before the actual concert. The raven ignored Kiba’s mumbled, ‘ _You’re_ a little flat’ as he wrote some last adjustments to his music. Kiba was filling in for the harmony during the chorus while Chouji was responsible for the background chorus that was off beat, and Shikamaru was the lower harmony. “Here, pass it over so I can tune it real quick.”

One of the staff members passed it to him so he could tweak the pegs before handing it back to Chouji as he stumbled onto the stage, fixing his vest hastily before grabbing his instrument.

He strummed at it and smiled in approval. “Sounds perfect. Thanks, Sasuke.”

Sasuke gave him a reassuring pat before moving up to the mic, handling his own guitar since this song required two guitars for the main melody.

As the band stood in their respective places on stage, the crowd began to quiet down. Ino had gone up to announce them since Kakashi and Yamato were still busy coordinating the rest of the team. As she got them pumped up, she signaled the others to get ready as she walked off stage.

All the band members glanced shortly back at Kiba as he lifted his drumsticks up in the air. He hollered out a, “One, two, three, four!” to set the tempo and Sasuke tapped his foot to it, the band starting up immediately on the next beat. Shortly after, the lights began to shimmer on again, this time to the steady beat of the music. The crowd roared to life once more, igniting a sea of glow sticks that were being sold at the front. Sasuke took a quick but deep breath before singing,

_Oh no, here we go_

_Hear your voice on the radio_

_Like every single song is about you_

 

_Every sec that we spent_

_Lots of mess stuck up in my head_

_Gets me so distracted and confused_

He glanced over the crowd and met Ino’s eyes shortly, seeing her shoot them an approving look and two thumbs-up. Sasuke grinned slightly, shaking his head as he watched the large swarm of people move to their rhythm. Losing himself to the song as well, he hardly noticed anyone as he kept tempo and strummed at a moderate speed with the rest of the music. He swayed a bit turning to the other members of his band to sing the chorus with them. It all ended up happening in sort of a blur from there, as after the song, the party commenced. He had been shoved around, crowd surfing, and taking quick sips of water whenever a staff member had the chance to come by and offer him some(from an un opened water bottle, of course). The whole place had gotten really crowded and he was starting to get really warm, the uncomfortable feeling of too many people all in one place almost suffocating. Luckily, this was an outdoor concert, meaning he had the fortune of night-time breezes, and since it was spring break during a cold front, it was even cooler than usual.

Of course, as with any break mixed in with a party, it had a lot of alcoholic beverages. But since they were all minors, Sasuke hadn’t known that. Either way, he should’ve expected as much since most of the crowd wasn’t, being at least twenty one and over. As a result, the next time he bumped into Kiba, and Chouji, they were both mildly intoxicated.

“Uh, guys, what have you been drinking?” Sasuke asked them carefully, trying to pry Kiba out of his arms as he laughed a little too much at the ravens concerned look.

“Ha-ha, what are you going on about? Lighten up, you bastard…” Kiba slurred, looking down at his feet as he momentarily wondered aloud if he was White or Mexican. “Can you tie my shoe?” he asked, after having given up on what he thought his ethnicity might be. Or maybe he just settled for being interracial.

The dark-eyed boy shot Chouji a disturbed look as the other shrugged. “Apparently, he can’t hold his liquor either. He and Hinata tend to get drunk with just one drink.”

Sasuke nodded his head in understanding. “Yeah, but what did y’all _have?”_

Pondering this, the Akimichi just looked even more confused. “Y’know, I’m not really sure. I thought it was punch, but the nice kid offering it to us called it something like a power drink? Maybe it’s like the five-hour energy stuff. Or at least that’s what I thought before Kiba began to get this weird,” he said, gesturing lightly to his friend as he started conversing animatedly with a young, long haired girl who also looked slightly drunk. Her cheeks were flushed just like Kiba’s but she seemed more alert than the brunette, anyway. “Whatever it is, it tastes awesome though. I say get a taste before heading back to the states.”

The raven shook his head at the offer. “Nah, I think a can hold out for a couple of more years…” he reassured, walking past him as Chouji got immediately distracted by a man walking around with a food platter. He tried deviating from the crowd but he couldn’t get past a few feet before he was stopped by someone, whether they were clingy, drunk girls or trippy staff members. Feeling himself get dragged away by overly excited partiers before he could do much else, he simply nodded and responded lightly as he was inquired by residents, only half-paying attention when he swore he saw something dark red slide past someone’s legs. When he looked up into their eyes though, he didn’t see any hint of recognition in them. It looked like…fur? Sasuke became even more confused since he knew cats never had red fur and dogs didn’t either. He might’ve mistook it for a piece of clothing that had realistic looking fur but he got a good enough look to tell that it had moved like a living, breathing animal. Or maybe he was just getting tired? He excused himself feeling dizzy and he recalled his vision becoming a little splotchy. His first guess was that he had gotten dehydrated from being near the crowds too long.

By the time he made it out towards the food spread and stands, he began to wonder if anyone was _not_ some sort of drunk. Everyone from the look of it was at least a tad bit under the influence and he was feeling slightly tense now.

“Hey, Sasuke, right?”

Spinning around on his heel, Sasuke shuffled closer to the ramen stand where an old man and a younger woman were working. The old gent gave him a warm smile and ushered him closer, waving at him confidently. “…Y-Yeah,” Sasuke responded, breaking out of his reverie to take a seat in front of the man politely.

“The name’s Teuchi,” he said, lifting his arm up for a handshake which Sasuke took graciously. “And this,” he pointed to the young girl who also glanced at him to give him a nice smile. “…is my daughter, Ayame.” He moved to dump a fresh batch of noodles to boil in hot water after her daughter ringed someone’s order up.

“It’s nice to meet y’all,” Sasuke responded, watching as Teuchi expertly slid a bowl of hot ramen to his daughter who added the toppings requested before handing it to their customer with a cheery look on her face. He heard her chirp out an, _“Enjoy!”_ before returning to the back to get more supplies.

Teuchi also turned to tend to the noodles and add seasoning. “Nice show you guys put on. Really got Ayame and I up and pumping.” He smiled again before looking at his ramen shortly and back up to Sasuke as if in wonder. “Ramen?” he asked then, as if the thought to offer him some just hit him.

Sasuke was about to refuse his proposition when his attention was drawn to something gold passing by. When he looked behind him, he was confused to find not a single trace of it. The raven turned to look back at the man only to find him waggling his eye brows at him in a silly fashion. “Come on, it’s on the house!” he said kindly, making Sasuke flinch in his seat in surprise.

“W-What? No no, I couldn’t—“ Sasuke tried before the other cut him off with a wave of his hand.

“Bah! Please, I insist. Besides, you’re already sort of paying us with your company hiring us and stuff for your little party.” He reassured, earning a sigh from Sasuke.

“Yeah…alright I guess,” He agreed before getting clasped on the shoulder by the other. “Now that’s the spirit!” He shouted with gusto. He turned around to call to the only other employee. “Ayame! One bowl for this gentleman, please!”

Sasuke tried to be more attentive, but his mind was still on the flash of yellow he saw. Surely he hadn’t just imagined it? He ran his fingers through his hair slowly, leaving his hand to rest at the nape of his neck contemplatively. He didn’t see any natural blonde’s in the crowd, and Ino’s was too pale for what he had glanced at. That was weird…

“Hey, what’s your preference?” he suddenly heard, glancing back up to see Teuchi gesture at him. “Uh, I’m not sure…What would you recommend?” Sasuke asked distractedly, only being used to the cup ramen back at the states that he was sometimes subjected to when he had nothing else to eat. It was rather unhealthy so he took the liberty to not eat it often.

“Well, personally, I’d recommend the Miso Ramen. My best customer loves it and always orders it with extra pork. Sometimes he’ll switch it out to spice things up but that’s his usual order, anyway. I’ve made its so many times that it’s also probably my specialty at this point,” he laughed.

Sasuke was watching him prepare the ramen with interest when he heard a muse of shouts behind them, a crowd it would seem, where some really drunk guests were yelling at some guy trying to breakdance but was too drunk to properly do it. They seemed to like it anyway as they shouted out whoops and pumped their fists excitedly. Sasuke looked back at the old man who was also staring their way. “Yeesh, there sure seems to be a lot of drunks out here tonight, huh?” the other asked as he slowly tore his eyes away to get back to work.

Sasuke sat up a little on his stool as his ramen was served and wafts of heat blew up into his face and nose comfortingly. He blinked his eyes a few times until they adjusted and he reached forward to grab some chopsticks from the canister on the bar. “Yeah, I was actually just wondering about that. How did so many people get drunk?” the boy asked aloud, making eye contact with Teuchi briefly before he was met with his back again as he shuffled a fresh batch of noodles out of the boiler.

“Probably smuggled it in or something.” The man mused with a shrug.

The raven almost dropped his chopsticks. “Wait, you mean we’re not selling that stuff?” Sasuke asked with a slight hiss in his voice, almost wishing he hadn’t come now.

“Of course not. You guys are underage, right? That’s placing you boys at risk.” Teuchi responded plainly, slipping some narutomaki into Sasuke’s bowl. “I can’t believe I almost forgot this,” he explained.

Sasuke eyed the fish cakes curiously before glancing back up at the man. “Uhh, okay..?” He picked one up and slipped it into his mouth before making a funny face. _Huh. Was this stuff supposed to taste like whine? And…was that watered down soda or just apple juice?_ He munched on it slowly, almost carefully before shrugging and shoving the other in his mouth too.

He could’ve sworn he heard someone cackling nearby but immediately ignored the odd feeling when Teuchi looked at him expectantly. “So?” he dragged out, his unblinking eyes awaiting his answer and making Sasuke super uncomfortable.

“It’s fine, I guess,” he replied with wide-eyes, slowly forming a cock of his eye brow before Teuchi huffed.

“Tough customer, eh?” he grumbled before shoving his sleeves back exaggeratedly, making Ayame laugh. “I swear I’ll get you before the end of this week is over…” he pouted.

Sasuke was slurping some of the noodles when he looked in between the two thoughtfully. “’S not that big of a deal, is it?” He swallowed, twiddling the eating utensils in a semi-bored fashion. “It’s just ramen.” That made the old man’s shoulder visibly twitch, as it did apparently to something else behind the stand because something metal clattered to floor.

“Ayame!” The man shouted tiredly and the girl nodded, heading back to pick up whatever had fallen.

Sasuke was even more mystified. If he didn’t know any better, he would think the stand was freaken’ alive or something. He would’ve tested out the little theory(as silly as it was) further by saying something like, _"_ _Ramen is stupid_ , _"_ but he didn’t want to offend Teuchi anymore than he already had, and he didn’t like to lie. Sure, ramen wasn’t the food of the future, but at least it wasn’t total garbage either. It was actually quite nice. _‘Just reeeaaally unhealthy,’_ Sasuke felt the need to stress.

Speaking of unhealthy foods, why did he feel so…crappy?

Instinctively, his hand came up to stomach as he felt the sudden urge to puke. _What the hell?_ He barely looked back at his ramen before looking away in disgust. Everything was suddenly really unappealing now and he felt like he needed to lie down.

“Hey, are you okay there, Sasuke?” Teuchi asked worriedly, Ayame popping in from the back tarp curiously.

Sasuke held a hand up and slid forward slightly to rest his head against the table. “’M fine.” He murmured before turning his head out to the side and groaning.

Teuchi looked at Ayame, who shrugged, before looking back at Sasuke with a look of sincere bafflement adorning his features. He bewilderedly pointed at the moaning boy before pointing at himself, mouthing something along the lines of, _‘did I do that’?_ inaudibly before shaking his head and placing his hands on his hips. No, ramen didn’t do that to people unless they had at least three bowls of it. He scratched his head until he finally decided he should just get back to work.

Sasuke was fumbling to get up after the odd feeling had subsided, a sort of renewed energy overcoming him as he did. He watched the overcrowded dance floor and smirked in confidence. _I am going to rock that dance floor,_ Sasuke thought as he made his way over to it, a buzzing in the pit of his stomach as he snaked his way straight into the middle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Oh come on! Don’t tell me you didn’t just imagine Sasuke’s “Wandering” theme playing hardcore right there! xD  
> 2\. The carotid artery is like some vein thing on either side of you neck, so yeah. Lol, I feel kinda bad for Kiba, but I can’t help it! (And no, I’m not a sadist! I just found it amusing when written non-seriously) I must be in one of those i-want-to-hurt-people moods again.  
> Moral of the story, Kiba is my source of entertainment until Naruto officially comes in, haha.


	4. Party Animal by Night, Hungover by Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay! So this has been my longest chapter yet and I had to cut it short because its so freakeshly long (woops this was supposed to be only a chapter long but I still have a lot to write about so, haha...part two, here we come!)  
> And more importantly, I MADE IT FOR SASUANRU DAY (YEEEAAAAHHH!!) so good on me! xD this was hard to write tbh. I hope next chapter will be even more fun, so look forward to seeing everyone reunite and the chaos that'll ensue after!  
> Speaking of Sasunaru day, I drew something for it, so go check it out if you can! (its sasunaru fluff) : http://aslongastherespastawewillsurvive.tumblr.com/post/123756541094/happy-sasunaru-daaayy-these-two-dorks-were-meant  
> Anyway, enjoy! (/・0・)

Sasuke groaned, his eyes fluttering open heavily as they squinted, adjusting to the dim but _burning_ light of the morning sun. His hand came flying to his eyes on instinct as he wiped them free of any residing sleepy dust, then pain started to settle in and he realized that his back and neck were both _very_ sore. Sitting up and wincing, he felt his head throb in what was one of the worst headaches he’d ever harboured while he proceeded to look at his surroundings.

He was on a park bench.

A _nice_ park bench.

Well, more like uncomfortable if his body cramping up was any indication.

Wait, why was he waking up on a park bench in the middle of town as opposed to his hotel room in the first place? …And was that..? Sasuke whipped around to find a dirty man with knotted hair and ripped clothing sitting next to him. The man gave him a sheepish little grin and wave, his outfit clearly clashing with his coat. Great, that hobo was totally wearing his jacket, wasn’t he? It was obvious the particular article of clothing wasn’t part of his usual attire when it was bedazzled in shiny studs and made of black, smooth, leather that practically gleamed _new_ off it. Sasuke buried his face into his hands suppressing a whine, a sick feeling overcrowding his stomach simultaneously. He was definitely _not_ in the mood to be waking up in the middle of a huge city, on a bench that also just happened to be refuging a hobo, with strangers walking by and looking at him funny like _he_ was the weirdest thing they’d seen all day. Besides, that was a _designer_ fucking leather jacket. Kakashi was going to kill him!

Turning to look at the hobo with an almost death glare, in which the hobo just seemed to smile back at him gratefully, he sighed. He’d come to realize that he had probably given it to him to help him ward off the cold. The raven supposed that was okay; he had plenty to spare anyway. The only problem was that he had no memory of it. Come to think of it…he didn’t have much memory of anything really.

The raven scrunched his face up, not able to recall hardly a thing past the concert.  He knew that there had been an after party but what the hell did he _do_ during it? Did he go home? Surely not, or else he wouldn’t be waking up “bench buddies” with a _homeless guy_. Perhaps the dehydration eventually got to him and he passed out? But then, wouldn’t the staff have taken him back to the hotel anyway? Nothing added up and he felt something fishy going on. He squinted at the nearby park and trees like they were to blame for his misfortune and sighed.

Shaking his head, he knew that he wasn’t going to figure this one out on his own. He also knew that this must’ve been how Kiba felt all the time because every time he attempted to thoroughly think the situation through, his head only began to hurt more.

Getting up on wobbly feat and swimming vision, he gave a distressed little huff and buried his hands in his pant pockets. Gearing himself for a painful day of trying to run under shade, acting like a total vampire, (as if he wasn’t already vampire looking _enough_ , now he had to act like it too?) all the while clutching his stomach and dropping to his rear, knees-up in an attempt at not puking up…whatever it was that he had last night, he skittered away from the bench, vaguely sending the drifter a goodbye with a two-fingered gesture.

The old guy gave him a thumbs up and Sasuke gave a small snort in return. _Man, he was not old enough to feel this shitty._

 

* * *

 

An elderly gentleman wearing a white uniform was whistling as he began to open various boxes and wooden crates. As he started to inspect a particularly large one, he noticed that his blade, instead of cutting the box open, was pushing the already-opened lid away. Before the old lad could feel irritated that the boxes were delivered to him already unpackaged, he froze, seeing a body. A body that was _nibbling_ on _his_ cabbages! The plump boy jumped, looking like a child with his hand caught mid-way into the cookie jar, and smiled, waving at him almost sheepishly. The Japanese gentleman hollered out in incredulity and Chouji immediately began to scramble out of his straw-filled box, attempting to at least take most of its contents with him as he fled before simply deciding he was taking the whole thing with him.

The salesman promptly came out of his shock and started to run after him, making Chouji’s eyes widen in alarm. “What? No! Go Away!! I don’t speak Japanese!!!” Chouji cried, holding his crate of veggies like they were his life.

But the well-dressed salesman didn’t relent, only yelling out more incoherent sputters as he stumbled after him.

“Why are you chasing me!?” The brunette screeched, taking a sharp turn away from downtown Tokyo where he hoped he could lose him to traffic or maybe in crowds. _Damn was he persistent! You’d think I stole his wife and kids!!_ The boy thought after several minutes of being followed around the city. He recklessly skittered into a group of marathon runners jogging around Yoyogi Park and proceeded to fall in pace with them.

As he assimilated into their little group, he quickly realized that he couldn’t keep it up because he then heard the guy clad in white shriek after him, spotting him like the sore thumb he was. He probably stood out too much in Japan, especially since he most likely looked like a madman running with cabbages and carrots in his hand, a trail of straw ensuing him wherever he went. He shook his long hair in a vain attempt at ridding it of the yellow grass but only managed to successfully get a mouthful of it instead. He spat, still panting from his little running spree as he made way inside the park.

The salesman was sliding in after him as Chouji ran past some Rockabilly dancers, messing up their groove and making some of them slip on large, falling cabbage leaves. Despite this, the now _badass_ salesman expertly maneuvered over the discarded leftovers and hopped after him with too much proficient ease for an old guy. He seemed to be proud of it too because now he was yelling something out cockily in Japanese which was also followed up with an equally crazy laugh.

 _“WHAT?!”_ Chouji yelped, losing feeling in his legs. He couldn’t remember the last time he ran this long, or was even able to! He really didn’t understand why this old man wanted to kill him over half eaten cabbages and carrots. Was he some sort of veggie demon?! “WHY DO YOU KEEP SPEAKING IN JAPANESE?!?! I AM _AMERICANO!!!_ ” the brunette screeched. “NO COMPRENDE!!”

“WHAT?” the man replied in a thick accent.

“YOU SPOKE ENGLISH THIS ENTIRE TIME!?!?” Chouji yelled looking back, almost ramming into a guy walking, or well, a _ttempting_ to walk his unmoving…wait, was that a _rabbit_ on a _leash_? (1)

“WHAT, _NO_. NO SPEAK FRENCH FRY.” The old salesman whaled back.

Chouji gave a look of utter befuddlement. _French fry? What the fuck is he on abo—?_ **Oh.** OH _NO_. “THAT’S JUST MESSED UP.” Chouji put his foot down, screeching to a halt. He turned around, his hair whipping with him as he revealed a glower that masked his features. His cheeks were bright red from both the cold bite of the chilly air and the heat of exercise. “BRING IT ON, OLD CABBAGE DUDE.” He yelled, dropping his shit and standing up boldly.

“PUT ‘EM UP!” The other guy yelled, readying his own fighting stance.

 _Oh, it was_ so _ON!!_

 

* * *

 

Ino gasped, flopping forward from a pile of clothes she had been buried under. When she looked around, she noticed she was enclosed in a tiny room with a cheap curtain for its door. She looked at it unamused.

“Is this a freaking dressing room?” She moaned, rubbing her head from the sudden pain she felt emit from it. Her face felt hot and she shook away from her blanket of blouses and skirts. After flinging a crop top that was around her neck only, she huffed indignantly. Where the hell w _as_ she?

She gasped again. “Was I kidnapped?!” she whispered to herself, half nervous, half excited. _By a hot rich guy,_ she then thought with a sly smile to her lips. “Well, you gotta’ earn it first but this is okay too.” But then it fully came to her that dressing rooms were usually attached to department stores. _Well unless you were spankin’ rich like Tsunade,_ Ino sighed, resting her cheek on a finger. She poked her head out of the curtains to find that she indeed _was_ in a clothing store. A clothing store that was apparently _closed_.

She felt a spout of panic rise up in her as she wildly looked around for an exit. When she saw a window in one of the back rooms where they stored extra clothes, she squealed in delight. “I feel like I’m in one of those _James Bond_ movies!”

Getting up on one of the closed cardboard boxes covered in duct tape, she flipped the latch on the window and slipped out. The Sun was high up in the sky and it was noisy for a Sunday. She shaded her eyes from the glare of the sun and poked out of the alleyway in the most casual way she could as to not attract attention, but that failed miserably. People stared at her in awe as she strolled out onto the street looking lost. She tilted her head, her eye brows furrowing to express her confusion. “Why are they looking at me like that..?” she said under her breath. She supposed this was normal for most tourists, especially if they were blonde and blue-eyed like her but she didn’t expect to get this many stares. At least she didn’t feel _this_ exposed yesterday.

As she kept wandering about, she found a mirror and proceeded to gasp for a third time. _Well I now know why they were staring_ , she thought as she admired herself in the mirror. She was wearing a flamboyant purple dress that was decked out in sequins that sparkled in different colours in the light of day. It was overly poofy and it almost reached down to her knees. Her shoes were silver heels tied by a small bow at the center of the strap above her exposed toes. She had a hoard of necklaces, though, over her neck and she made a mental note to keep them all but remove most of them before people thought she was some kind of weird kid who couldn’t properly accessorize. She had a similar problem with the bracelets and fishnet glove on her hands (Well, one hand since she seemed to have forgotten that gloves come in pairs). “I look like a came out of a disco circus,” she grumbled, looking for a place where she could fix her appearance.

 

* * *

 

Kiba's brows furrowed, feeling heavier than he had ever felt waking up. Maybe he just needed to pee? No, it wasn’t just his bladder…it was all over him. Maybe Sasuke had thrown a hundred blankets over him in an attempt at pranking him again. It wouldn’t have been the first time. Still, these blankets seemed to emit a little _too_ much heat… And one was digging into his side painfully—HOLY _SHIT,_ was that an _ARM!?!_

Kiba’s eyes flew open, and he felt his heart rate pick up frightfully. He felt around him and he felt a body—and another—and _another—and oh my god it’s **breathing**_. He could barely function at this point. What was _happening!?!?_ He would’ve still thought this was a prank but soon dismissed the idea when he noticed the blood red interior of the _very_ unfamiliar room he was currently occupying. _WAS HE IN **HELL**???_

Trying his best to not hyperventilate at the thought he forced his frozen body to move. _I mean seriously, me? Kiba? In HELL? No way,_ he reassured. He paused. _So okay, I’ll admit. Laughing at Sasuke’s weird Dino-fetish was kinda messed up. I mean, Yoshi_ is _pretty badass. And I get it! Maybe switching the lens in Sasuke’s reading glasses with shit Dollar store glasses lens was pretty fucked up too, but to be fair, he got me back on that one when he gave me that ice pack for my face that had pollen all over it. Like, dude! I had pink eye for like the rest of the day because of him! I’m pretty sure that “massive” headache he endured after wasn’t as bad as the irritation on my inflamed eye! It itched with the fucking intensity of a million supernovas for god’s sake!! Do you know how awful that feels?! I wanted to scratch my eye out!! Seriously, Sasuke can’t take a fucking joke for shit!_ Moving to free himself of the mass of limbs carefully, doing his best to not disturb any of them at the same time, he held in his breath. When he managed to successfully sit up, he let out a sigh of relief and looked around only to find a horde of girls passed out and sleeping peacefully all around him and the deep obsidian seats. The table in front of him was littered with shots and bottles of what was most likely some alcoholic beverage and Kiba felt his stomach churn unpleasantly.

He chuckled anxiously, tugging at his shirt collar before his fingers wandered off instinctively in search of his phone. When he felt nothing in his back pockets, his face went blank. _What the—?_ When he checked his front pockets, he found that they were also empty. Scrunching his face up in a mixture of disbelief and panic, he shook his head confidently. _Whatever! You can deal with that shit later!_

Nodding to himself encouragingly, he searched the pockets of the girls until his fingers slid over the familiar cold metal of an iPhone in someone’s limp hand. He slipped it out and noticed the time, 10:56 AM.

 _Jesus, it’s still early,_ the brunette thought as he begun to stand up and stretch. He was about to lean over to wedge the phone back where it belonged when suddenly the girl he was giving it back to woke up with a start, her dark eyes wide as situations played through her mind. He could just tell the one she was most sold on was _pick-pocketer_.

He flinched as she started to yell out almost disappointedly, causing a domino effect as the girls all started to wake one by one.

Kiba gave them a nervous smile as they all began to give him bewildered looks, taking in his obviously guilty stance as an indication that something had gone wrong. “Uh, haha…it was nice knowing ya’ll, but I think I hear Kakashi calling me!” the tattoed boy shouted as he scurried out, leaving a cult of questioning girls behind him before they could hold him down to interrogate him like an expirement.

“You really reeled it in this time, huh, Kiba?” He panted, careening out of the brothel into the street. Feeling for his pockets once more, he groaned. “And now, you’ve got no wallet or phone. Awesome.”

 

* * *

 

Sasuke winced as he rubbed the palm of his hand against his now growing migraine. He still felt completely out of whack and he was utterly lost in the heart of Tokyo. When a large park came into view, he realized that he had actually wandered off quite far, contrary to his previous belief, and was walking toward Yoyogi Park indefinitely. He supposed he could just sit it out for a while before going on and deciding to do anything too rash. He could probably just hail a cab after. Not that he was in a hurry anyway, but he shouldn’t take too long. Kakashi and the others were going to send a mob of security guards after him if he didn’t go back soon that would probably turn into a full-blown search party. Maybe even an amber alert…if that was even a thing in Japan.

He definitely didn’t need his 16 year old ass face on the board of whatever-was-the-equivalent-to-a-Japanese-Walmart. As he trudged down the path leading up to Yoyogi Park’s entrance, he was abruptly stopped by a lane of women gazing up at him in an almost daze-like fashion that Sasuke knew all too well. He gave them a polite nod of acknowledgment, in hopes that they would just let him be, before trying to go around the group. His brows crinkled up in mild surprise when they followed his lead before his mind began to tread on dangerous ground. _Oh no, don’t tell me…_ his thoughts began. To test his theory, he slid to the other side again as if to bypass them, and without a doubt, they all immediately mimicked his movements, like an only vaguely delayed mirror, to block him. When Sasuke tried side-stepping them again, faster this time, they responded with a frightening amount of accuracy that his mind screamed _…fangirls!!!_

The raven’s eyes widened as he turned on his heel so hard he practically blanched with whiplash, his head whirling in pain as he began to run. _Dammit! Why do I always end up here!?!?_ By now, the Uchiha was fairly certain that God was out to get him and that on his tombstone something like _‘Died being trampled over fangirls’_ being engraved onto it wasn’t as farfetched as it should’ve been.

 

* * *

 

Ino was strutting down the street like she had just won the lottery and no one could stop her from world domination. The pale blonde’s content practically radiated off her, as if the boldness of her attire hadn’t already fulfilled that image with its shining exterior.

“Whoo!” she cheered as she sashayed down the road with an absolute confidence in the sway of hips. “I feel like a party animal!” she beamed, essentially skipping over the street, not even caring where it would lead her or what others thought of her. She felt _great!_ So much so, in fact, that she didn’t quite feel like making her way back to the hotel just yet. She would come around to it, but it would be such a waste to not flaunt her fabulous new look.

With that thought in mind she gave a lascivious wink at a suave looking man from across the street who in turn proceeded to stumble down some stairs with a bright pink colour engulfing his cheeks. She would’ve laughed at how cartoony that really was had it not looked _so goddamn painful,_ like wow, she had not meant for that to happen. At. All. She could only cringe, half-heartedly covering her eyes as she flinched at every **_bam!_** she heard that seemed to make the young man’s scream turn into loud grunts. Ino honestly felt really guilty now, and as a result, she blushed innocently while walking away before anyone could link his injury to her. _Wow, that was…not as nice as it looked in the movies…_

She whistled wide-eyed as she promenaded _the hell out of there_ before the cops came or something. _Crazy woman injures man with her sexiness_ didn’t seem like something she wanted to have on her permanent record.

Avoiding flirting with the locals any further, she was stopped by an admirer in the middle of her aimless wanderings.

“Hey, you!”

The platinum blonde blinked before turning to the man on the other side of the road in a bewildered fashion. _Me?_ She gestured, pointing to herself and turning around to see no one else looking at him.

The man nodded enthusiastically before jogging up to her. Now that he was coming better into her view, she noticed the camera hanging around his neck. With a loud blow of air, the young adult hunched over slightly to catch his breath, instantly flashing Ino with an easy smile as he pushed his glasses back up onto his button nose. “I’m sorry, it’s just…Have you ever modeled?” the man asked fervently, a sparkle in his auburn eyes.

She looked back at him stunned, not knowing what to say exactly. “I—uhh, no. n-not really. I’m more of a journalist actually…” she stuttered, obviously flattered by his idea though.

“That’s great! It means you already know how this stuff works.” The dark haired man gave her a cheery chuckle. “Well, either way, you certainly look like you have. Which brings me to the question…now that I know you’re not bound to any company, I was wondering if you would be willing to model for me?” he asked, more bashfully this time, his fingers scratching nervously against his expensive camera as he shuffled his feet.

She would have felt more shy, but the guy seemed like such a jumble of nerves himself—unsual for people of his profession—that it made her feel a lot more comfortable. “Yeah, okay. That sounds like fun!” she agreed eagerly. Ino had always dreamed of modeling, but was surprisingly withdrawn when it came down to it. But now that the opportunity was finally presenting itself, she honestly didn’t feel like passing it up. “So when did you want me to model for you?” she asked slyly, alighting a light blush and nervous laugh from the other.

“Spunk, huh? I like that. It’s really cool.” The other gentleman grinned sheepishly. “Not common for most people I work with. Arrogant? Maybe. Moxy? Eh.” He shrugged, earning a giggle from Ino. “I was actually on my way to an open photoshoot right now…if it’s not too much trouble, I’d love to have you join me?” he asked uncertainly, his fingers tugging at his hair gently.

Ino felt her smile grow wider. This guy was too sweet, and really charming. Much more gentle than what she was used to. It made her want to help him out even more. What could she honestly have to lose? “Sure I will, just lead the way, boss.” She winked, and he finally seemed to relax some, his face lighting up with the admission.

"Thank you so much!” he bowed respectfully, making Ino look around self-consciously. _Oh yeah…forgot about the whole bowing thing here…that’s really embarrassing..!_ She thought as she backed away slightly, feeling heat rise up her neck. “Although you don’t have to call me that…” he replied with a soft laugh. “Akio is just fine.” He assured, rubbing his nose in an attempt to settle his nerves.

“Hmm,” Ino pondered. “Akio, huh?” she gave him a teasing poke to his arm to lighten him up. “I think I like boss better,” She admitted with a childish smile. Akio simply shook his head with a gentle laugh, his long messy bangs giving him an even more appealing look.

As they joked and got to know each other, they headed toward a large park infested with people trying to enjoy a wide variety of activities, ranging from picnics, to university students practicing their instruments, to even…guys trying to walk their rabbits. And by guy, Ino obviously meant _guy_. The boy’s rabbit simply stayed stone still as he held it by a leash expectantly, as if any minute now, the bunny would hop away at a moment’s notice. Well, she had to admire his vast determination and patience for that kind of thing. (1)

Akio timidly reached for Ino’s wrist, weaving her through the crowd of Sunday visitors as he sputtered out a string of nervous apologies to people he tried to get pass in Japanese. “Ah! Here we are!” he explained cheerfully.

There was an extravagant display near a spot in the park where trees fell over a stage elegantly right infront of the park’s lake, the place littered with camera’s, cameramen, and props, most of which were exotic and vibrant coloured flowers. Ino gasped as they got closer to it, admiring the absolute beauty of the arrangements. Coming from a family of floral shop owners, it was really hard not to be incredibly impressed by the obviously professionally done designs.

As she went up and admired them from up close, Akio grinned. “So I take it you like flowers a lot, huh?” he went up to kneel next to her as she tapped some tulips lightly, her baby blue eyes sparkling as they bounced against curly ribbons and leaves.

“Yup! My parents run a flower shop, so when you grow up with these little guys, it’s kinda hard to not let them grow on you,” she explained, shooting Akio a grateful smile of her own.

He was about to say something back when a sudden shout had him jumping high into the air. “Hey, Akio! Where’ve you been buddy?! I’ve been looking all around for you! The photoshoot’s about to start!!” They were greeted by a man with orange-dyed hair, and plaid scarf. Judging by his attire, the man was obviously an artist, if the paint stains on his over coat were anything to go by anyway. His oversized beret fell over his eyes suddenly before he huffed and pushed it back, Akio standing back up to face him.

As Ino followed his lead, the other man noticed her and scratched his head confused. “Did we get another foreigner model or..?” he inquired with a hush as he hunched over to Akio suspiciously. “…is this you’re new girlfriend or something?”

Akio blushed furiously as the other boy laughed maniacally. “Hiroki!!” the young adult whined, earning a slap on the shoulder from his friend. Ino jumped when it made a loud **_thump!_** sound and sent Akio rocking forward before the painter reached forward to pull him by his sweater and back up on his feet. “You’re cruel…” the brunette sniffed. Ino simply stared in shock as she thought about how they seemed to have opposite personalities from what you would assume. _I imagined a painter to be more sensitive and a photographer to be more outspoken..!_

Hiroki laughed once more before patting his back reassuringly. “Sorry, sorry! It’s just so funny to embarrass you, Aki-chan!” the man grinned triumphantly, earning a tired look from the other.

“We’re not five anymore, you can stop calling me that.” Akio walked up to Hiroki to stretch out his cheeks. “Or else,” he replied smoothly, but the threat lost its affect in Akio’s childish voice, making the other boy giggle delighted.

“But I thought you liked it!” he wiggled in his spot and Akio let him go tiredly, a blush hinting at his cheeks.

The boy had to cover his face with both hands. “You’re weird!” he complained running back to Ino before tugging her in front of him. “Let’s just get you situated, yeah?” he asked, cringing as Hiroki pranced his way back to his friend.

“Akio~ I know where you live! ❤” Hiroki cried and Ino was shaking from holding in her own laughs.

“Stop it, Hiroki! Now’s a bad time!” Akio cried, swishing away as the ginger came rearing his head behind Ino. They danced around each other for a while before Ino busted out laughing at Aiko’s comment of, _“You didn’t seem to agree with the teasing when I found about you’re Winnie the Pooh fixation!!”_

Hiroki seemed to crack. “Winnie the Pooh is life, Akio!”

“Yeah, and so is your rock collection. Now shape up before I throw pebbles at you!” Akio picked one up as if to demonstrate how serious he was about it, causing Hiroki to fling his arms up in surrender.

“Okay! Alright! You win this round! Just leave my precious stones alone!!” The ginger screeched, squinting his eyes shut and lazily covering his face before cracking one open to glace at his pebble. “Oooh, that’s a pretty one!” he jumped over at Hiroki and the shy boy clumsily knocked it into the spirited one’s hands.

“Geez! This is why you sometimes haunt my dreams, Hiroki!”

“…I-I…you…? _Whaaaat?”_

Ino giggled, moving in to break them apart and remind them why they were there when a familiar voice caught her attention. “Ino?”

She whipped around to find a girl in unmistakable pastel pink hair and spear mint eyes staring at her wide-eyed and in disbelief. “Sakura?!” Ino froze in place as her rival and her had some sort of staring contest, neither willing to be the first to look away without reason.

“Oh hey, Sakura. Ready for the photoshoot?” Akio called out pleasantly, trotting over to Ino when he suddenly sensed the tense atmosphere and abruptly stopped. “Uh…do you guys already know each other?”

Hiroki came too and the pair glanced between the two girls questioningly. Ino eventually broke eye contact to give them a small nod. “Yeah, long story actually.” The blonde admitted. She could hear Sakura scoff indifferently and Akio just nodded, looking like he understood, but not understanding at all. He felt like he had just made a huge mistake.

“Uhh, well, I need to go check on the equipment so…Sakura, can you show Ino around?” Akio inquired, shooting the pinkette a pleading look. When she saw the tender look in his eyes, she yielded. She couldn’t mess up Akio’s photoshoot; this obviously meant the whole world to him.

“…Alright,” she tolerated. The chocolate-haired boy gave the two of them a wide grin and pulled Hiroki away with him.  He shouted a _“Thanks!”_ and the two skedaddled toward the front of the stage with the rest of the crew.

Ino felt her brow twitch in irritation as Sakura turned to level her with a glower, underlying a sense of superiority. No, Ino wasn’t going to go on picking fights, especially on her first job as a model, even if it was more of charity work. She was going to rock this, dammit! And she wasn’t going to allow Sakura to ruin it by getting a rise out of her! “So…” she began, straining her voice to match neutrality.

When the other girl snorted, Ino was deadly close to chunking one of the park trashcans at her stupid face. “Come on, models wait behind the stage while they prepare.” She replied, her tone stern and irritated. Ino felt a vein bulge on her forehead as the other fwipped around to walk in the other direction toward the stage. They were past the name calling by far, but _man_ did she want to call her big forehead now!! It was just so…infuriating to look at it! Well, it was mostly her entire face but Ino all of a sudden couldn’t wait to leave. Maybe if she was lucky, Akio would call her again under different circumstances.

Sakura turned to the back where a group of makeup artists were working on other models, most of which were natives, it would seem. Ino didn’t recognize anyone beyond the pinkette, not the she expected to. Most of her friends were, sadly, boys, but that was kind of a given when she worked with a boy band and staff of music nerds. Not that she would change that for the world or anything, she just happened to notice every once in a while how truly lonely she felt. She snapped out of her reverie as Sakura faced her head on.

“So what kind of sick joke is this?” she hissed, obviously not trying to attract any attention.

Crossing her hands in front of her chest defensively, Ino gave her a glare of her own. “Unless Akio is the joking type, it isn’t one.” She scoffed back. There was a gleam in her eyes as she saw the irritated look on Sakura’s face. “He just saw this sweet bod and couldn’t resist!” The platinum blonde grinned widely, practically sparkling Sakura’s ass to Pluto.

Trying not to puke at Ino’s ridiculous self-confidence, the pinkette cringed. “Yeah, I’m sure that’s exactly what happened.” She responded back sourly, only stopping when she heard her name get called. “Well, whatever the reason, it’s pretty obvious you don’t belong here. Akio was probably just trying to be nice, so don’t get so full of yourself. It wouldn’t be the first time he’s brought in a stray.”

She felt her eyebrow twitch with pent up rage. _Stray? Dafuq, girl you wanna go?!_

Letting one of the makeup artists lead her away to one of the stools, she looked back arrogantly. “You don’t even have any experience, and I’ve been writing and featuring in magazines for quite some time now. I was also hand-picked by Akio himself to model for him.”

Trying to ebb her anger away gradually, Ino opted for a much more “poised” image, coughing into her hand childishly. “Looks like Akio’s glasses were broken at the time. Poor guy probably doesn’t know how to let a girl down easy either. Akio’s damned himself with a witch. Oh the tragedy!”

Sakura instantly tossed a menacing scowl her way, her face turning an almost radioactive shade of pink.

But before she could respond, Ino was back on top of her, speaking smoothly. “Has anyone ever told you how absolutely cute you look when you’re mad?”

That threw Sakura off guard, so much so that she nearly tipped out of her seat trying to figure out whether she had heard that right or not. Wincing, she smacked her ear dramatically as if to emphasize this. _Nope, my ears are fine. So what on earth..?_

“…Because they were lying,” she finished with a giggle, breaking her serious facade.

“Why you!?—” Sakura contained a scream with her groans, temporarily throwing the artist for a loop. “That’s it, Ino-pig! I’m not going to play nice anymore!” Sakura screeched, clouds of heat practically steaming off of her cheeks from the anger. Ino was just focused on trying not to totally lose it and laugh herself to death as the woman doing her mascara urged her to stop moving.

“Oh man, I slay me,” Ino sang in between her giggles.

After managing to not throw everything into disarray in a mighty rampage, Sakura “ _hmph”e_ d delicately, pushing the makeup artist away from her face in utter annoyance. “Whatever, you’ll see how big of a mistake this whole thing was once this is all over.” Sakura had a sudden flare of confidence as all the models were rounded up to go up on stage, Ino being promptly pushed behind her to follow as the last one in the line.

She watched the movements of all the other girl’s carefully and did her best to mimic their actions, all of them filing into a neat row in front of the stage. The pale blonde was practically sweating with anxiety when she caught movement in the corner of her eye. Sakura was holding in a condescending giggle, instead smirking as Ino tried to stop fidgeting. She was about to throw some snarky comment back to shut her up when Akio stopped all of the crewmembers from proceeding. He seemed to be explaining something to them as they all nodded and glanced at Ino. She shivered even more when many of them threw glances at her and only stopped holding in her breath when Akio waved her over reassuringly.

“It’s okay, Ino! You’ll be with me today!” he yelled over from his spot happily and Ino lit up faster than a lightbulb at the sudden news. She almost laughed when she saw Sakura’s mouth hang open in disbelief as she hopped off stage and headed her way toward Akio, who was waiting for her with Hiroki hulling supplies after him a bit sluggishly.

“Looks like luck’s on your side today.” Hiroki sighed, trying to pretend like he wasn’t having difficulties hulling the equipment around. Ino covered her mouth from giggling as he took in three long and sharp intakes of breath before dragging the cameras to where they would be shooting. Akio on the other hand was perfectly shameless when it came to laughing at the ginger’s antics.

“I was able to convince them to let me have you just for the day since you were new and all,” the chocolate haired boy grinned and Ino reached up to squeeze the boy’s hands gratefully.

“Ohmygosh, thanks a bunch! I was really nervous up there!” she cried, dancing in her spot like a small flower in the wind. “I just…with Sakura being so experienced and everything and this being my first time…I didn’t know what to do.” Akio was practically trembling with the physical contact and gratitude in Ino’s pale blue eyes.

“Well,” Hiroki came swinging back to Akio’s shoulder, placing a confident arm on him as if he was never inconvenienced by the other boy and his stuff, “You’ve got us now! And we,” he pointed to himself and Akio cheerily, “have your back! So…Yeah!” he finished lamely when he soon ran out of things to say.

Ino and the auburn-eyed boy looked at each other funnily. “…Very inspirational, Hiroki. Thank you.” Akio responded back blandly, causing Ino to grin back with tears in her eyes as she bit back a giggle.

“You’re so mean to him,” Ino breathed carefully, leveling her voice to sound sympathetic. Akio simply shot her an innocent smile as Hiroki sulked in the back, yelling, _“Yeah, Akio! MEAN!”_ probably more proudly than he had meant for it to sound.

“I finally have someone who understands the pain I have to undergo as a member of this relationship.” Hiroki nodded an affirmative to Ino and she petted his hair like a child, cradling him in her arms protectively.

“Domestic abuse.” Ino replied simply, looking sad as Hiroki teared up on cue, giving Akio the most pathetic puppy-dog look yet.

Akio flinched, a pink lighting his cheeks delicately. “Will you two stop making it sound like we’re married and get to work!?” he threw his arms up at them in annoyance and they both laughed as they ran to their respective parts yelling _Yes, sir!’s_ back at him mischievously.

Akio simply shook his head and sighed. “You two are hopeless.” He adjusted the lens and the settings as he focused in on Ino’s smiling form, who by now was very distracted by Hiroki’s erratic movements behind the scenes. But before he could yell at him, the silly man was once again shouting things.

“And you’re perfect, blah blah blah…yes, yes! We understand! Now shut up and work your magic, camera maestro!” Hiroki babbled on care-freely, making puffs of hot air flow out of Akio’s mouth like he was going to blow out fire any minute now.

“Will you shush and let me do my job already without judging me!?!? I CAN’T. CONCENTRATE.” He roared, making Hiroki laugh viciously and excitedly.

“Oops! Hiroki’s mad! Call the fire department before he burns the whole park down!” He ran in circles around Akio and the auburn-eyed man had to sit down to calm himself.

“That’s it, take five!!” Akio whaled out exasperatedly, curling up into a ball in the green grass.

“But we haven’t even started yet.” Ino replied amused.

Akio blew a fuse. “Shut up, Hiroki!!”

“But I didn’t say anything..!?”

With a great sorrow washing over the ginger, he stopped dead in his tracks and joined Akio in the grass, mirroring his position and plopping down close enough to huddle with his friend and bump knees. “You’re cruel, Aki-chan.”

“Sounds like you’re starting to understand how I feel.” The dark-haired boy sighed, but did not pull away from his friend.

From a distance, Ino could hear shouting and she turned to look at all the commotion. Akio and Hiroki looked up too when they heard a second voice, presumably the one chasing after the first who was by now yelling into hysterics. Ino felt that one of the voices was uncannily familiar to one she already knew but she couldn’t quite place a name to it when it was strained in between screams.

When squinting at the pair, she saw that the one being chased was…Chouji?! She squinted harder and rubbed at her eyes just to make sure. When the image of Chouji running around hastily with a box over his head and—what the hell, were those _cabbages?_ —in his hands didn’t dissipate, her jaw fell slack. “Oh my god,” she whispered as the two ran on the outer rings of the park.

The two Japanese men eyed Ino curiously once they seemed to realize that understanding was dawning on the blonde as a mutual acquaintance seemed to have hopped into the fray. Their suspicions were only confirmed as Ino apologized swiftly before leaving them to watch dumbfounded as she ran after the two.

From afar, Sakura was watching the whole exchange with interest. It wasn’t until the other models had started to whisper excitedly about the plump boy’s identity that it hit the young girl that he was a member of her all-time favourite band. Her face practically split itself in half with how wide she was grinning at the sight of the bassist running around right in her hometown of freaking _Tokyo!_

But then…if one of the band members was here, then surely that meant the rest were too? Meaning that Sasuke was in town. And if Sasuke was in town, Sakura had big plans ahead of her. After all, she was the idol’s biggest fan by far. Boy, did she ever dream of this moment! Of course, that was when she hadn’t expected it to ever happen but now…holy cow, her celebrity crush was within a tangible distance and she could hardly believe her luck!

By now, the pinkette was glowing with elation as she fangirled on the spot. _Oh, Sasuke! I’ll get you to finally notice me! Because I’m going to be the girl of your dreams!_ Sakura fist pumped energetically before giggling to herself. If anyone could win the Uchiha’s heart, it was her. She knew everything there was to know about the dark-haired boy, and that included his preference on girls. _You’ll be mine before your trip is over,_ she grinned, ignoring the other women’s excitement and laughs as her eyes and heart were set on only one boy.

 

* * *

 

The raven held his head with one hand as he tried to level the haziness of his eyesight and the subsequent throbbing. As the same girls from before chased him all around the park, he slipped behind some trees to see if he could throw them off his tracks temporarily to catch his breath.

With heavy panting, he was relieved to see that nothing came running by his lane, meaning that he had been successful, surely. But as killer as curiosity was, he couldn’t help but make sure that this wasn’t just some sort of false blanket of security that he had wrapped himself in. Craning his head around the tree and leaning his whole body toward it, he saw that they were musing about lost, but before he could take that final outtake of air in relief, he was met with harsh reality as one of them met his dark gaze briefly. She squealed in delight— _the ear piercing type_ , Sasuke thought gravely—before following after him only to once again be on the run. He was stomping heavily away from them as he bounded for the corner that lead to the rims of the park where nature met city. From the corner of his eyes, the Uchiha noticed a large food truck. A large food truck that _just_ started moving. Feeling a sliver of hope shine in his opaque eyes, he nearly gazed up and thanked the damn clouds.

Yes! If he went after it now, he could still make it and hitch a ride on the back ledge of it! It was a completely ridiculous, reckless, and quite frankly, s _tupid_ idea, but at this point, he bargained that crazy and irrational was better than running away for the rest of his life. Making a mad dash for the moving vehicle, he raced up to it and flung himself over the parks railing and back up onto the metal plank. Immediately, his hands came up to secure themselves at the sides of the truck and he felt himself smile widely. _Holy shit._ He tossed a look over his shoulder to see the girls behind him falter in their steps and watch back in awe. When they finally snapped out of it, they began to gush and call wildly after him, obviously very impressed with the talented Uchiha and Sasuke could only grin back in almost terror. He had almost gotten attacked by wild fangirls. Why did he ever choose this life?

 _Why God, why? Why did you make me **’pretty’**?_ The Uchiha didn’t have problems with aesthetics—honestly, he just couldn’t bring himself to care much about them—but saw them more as a flawed part of society. Everyone seemed so dead set on appearances and it reminded him a lot of his family and specifically of Itachi, who always seemed so quiet and compliant, but secretly contemplative. It made him ponder over his elder brother’s silent indifference on such trivial things and made him respect him that much more. While Sasuke loved his parents to bits and pieces, he’d admit that with Itachi, he wasn’t as afraid of just being himself as he was with them, and it was honestly the most refreshing and content thing he’d ever felt in life. He liked that Itachi seemed to like him without regarding his talents or physique. It made him feel special on the _inside_. And even though he wasn’t proud of it, Sasuke was haunted by such things. He dreamt of better times and yearned for a place in this world where he only ever seemed to stand out too match, no matter the lifetime.

Why couldn’t people be more like his kind and gentle brother?

And more importantly, why did the world take away such a great man?

 

* * *

 

Ino raced to catch up to the two as Chouji seemed close to his limit. She paused when an idea hit her. She whistled over to the boy as she hailed a cab on the side of the road, Chouji looking at her with a mixture of astonishment and relief blooming over his face.

 _“Ino!?”_ he gasped.

“Shut up and get in the car!!” she shrieked as the salesman was really close now.

Chouji didn’t protest to that, and slipped in before promptly slamming the door and locking it. He began to roll up the window too as the man started yelling incomprehensible things at them and Chouji paid the man to drive away as fast as he could. “Drive, dude! DRIVE,” he yelled urgently. The man just nodded with wide eyes as the crazy guy clad in white practically slammed into the vehicle before exhausting a cloud of smoke in his face.

As they drove away with a loud sigh, Ino turned to Chouji and almost whacked him upside the head.

“What the _HELL_ WAS THAT?!?” she screeched at the other boy and he just gave her a wide-eyed shrug, continuing to munch on the carrot in his hand. He offered her one and she just stared back at him in disbelief.

“I don’t know! I just woke up in a box full of cabbages and carrots! Also, my wallet is missing. Good thing I keep spare cash in my hat!” He said in almost a panic. “I was having a fine morning until that crazy guy opened _my_ box! We were gonna duke it out, but then he whipped out some broccoli and I ran like hell! Broccoli. Is. The. Worst.” Chouji emphasized with rising eye brows and Ino was torn in between laughing and having a cry of despair herself.

“I woke up in a fucking dressing room. And I lost my purse! Talk about a weird-ass morning…All though I’ll admit, I _did_ have a lot of fun.” she amended, thinking about the thrill of it all and her new friends. Speaking of new friends, she just ditched them and ran to help Chouji. She groaned and buried her head in her hands at the thought. _Way to mess up your first and only chance at modeling._

Disrupting her sulking, Chouji gave her a once over and made a noise of approval. “Huh, you weren’t kidding about the dressing room. You look great!” he answered politely, making her lift her head up and smile a small smile.

“Thanks,” she sighed, resting back on the seat. She still gave him a light punch to the shoulder for her trouble. “You owe me though. I gave up on my dream because of you.”

Chouji looked at her in surprise before he asked hesitantly, “You mean modeling?” Being acquainted with each other since they were kids, he was aware of just about everything there was to know about Ino. It helped that him and Shikamaru had formed a small group with her as children due to their parents all being childhood friends as well. How did I…” he slowly started pulling the pieces together when Ino gave him a recap of her morning. “Oh man,” he groaned apologetically. “I didn’t know…I-I’ll definitely treat you later this week. I promise!”

Ino just gave him a supportive smile and shrugged. “Nah, it’s cool. You didn’t know, and getting stuck in that box wasn’t you’re fault.” She reminded.

“Yeah but—” Chouji was cut off as he swore he saw Sasuke on the back of a truck. “Whaaa? Sasuke?!”

Ino perked up then and her eye’s widened and became alert. “WHERE???” She leaned over his lap to his window interestedly. They both had their faces press against his window but missed him when the truck turned around down a different street.

“Damn! So close.” Chouji grunted.

She huffed, feeling like he was just teasing her. “You sure you saw him?” she asked skeptically.

Chouji gave her a candid shake of his head. “To be honest, no. But it _looked_ like him.” He insisted, and she nodded, believing him.

“Huh, that’s weird.”

“Maybe he’s looking for us?” Chouji offered helpfully.

She suddenly remembered about the staff. “Oh crap!” Ino’s expression fell. “Everyone’s probably wondering where we are!” After all, she hadn’t meant to be gone for this long.

Chouji blanched as well, obviously thinking around the same thing. “Aw snap, you’re right. We should really head back before they really start to worry! It’s already about to be lunch time too!”

“Ugh…you’re right. I haven’t eaten since yesterday.” She moaned, clutching her stomach.

They both sighed as they felt their stomachs growl.

“I think I’ll take that carrot now.”

 

* * *

 

Groaning, Shikamaru came to in the back of something— _oh man, it’s moving—_ that was also hammering the pain in his head only harder. Feeling all jumbled up on the inside and like he was going to need a puke bag soon, the teen just played it cool, moving forward lazily to sit up. _Don’t hurt you’re self, Shika-boy. Still haven’t lived a normal enough life to die under non-normal circumstances._ If he was so set on living it average, he could at least die average too.

Once his vision returned to him under the black fog smudging the corner of his eyes, he could see a window. And a seat. And another window. Oh, and look. A driver too, because his life couldn’t get more ordinary if there wasn’t that typical stranger in there with him just like there was every single time anyone awoke, right? _Well at least someone’s driving the damn vehicle. Explains the whole me-bumping-against-the-seat-every-two-seconds thing._

Running a hand through his unusually loose hair, he sighed. “How long have I been here?”

“Since four in the morning, sir.”

“And you’ve been driving my sleeping ass all morning because...”

“They said you’d pay me to.”

 _They, huh? Well, you don’t have much of a choice now. Poor guy didn’t just waste a shit ton of gas for fun._  He waited a bit just in case his chauffeur decided to elaborate, but when he didn’t, he just sighed. “…Here’s your money.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Now can you just drive me back to my hotel?”

“Certainly, sir.”

After giving him the directions to the place, he sat back with a frown marring his features. _What the hell happened last night?_ He wasn’t the type to go off and be reckless. That was Kiba’s lifestyle, not his. Yet here he was, waking up in a damn cab with a strange gentleman driving him randomly around Tokyo just because some random people told him to? If anything, this was all too suspicious, and he was willing to bet he had been tricked. Played like fiddle, if you will. They performed a demo concert last night and then…bam. Nothing. His mind was as blank as could be. _Again, not my division. That’s Kiba’s department._

But if he had one good guess, he would say he was absolutely hungover. Not that he had ever been before, but he _had_ read and seen enough accounts to match his symptoms to the paper and television shows. And of course, that could only mean one thing. Someone had illegally brought it in and coaxed him into drinking it, undeniably also setting him up with _cab_ _man_.

“We didn’t do anything weird, right?” he inquired suddenly as the thought crossed his mind, lifting a thin eye brow up at the man who just gave him a confused look.

“Driving around in circles not a common occurrence for you?”

Shikamaru almost smiled, appreciating the man’s sarcasm, but the dull discomfort of his body prevented him from expressing any sort of positive emotion so he settled for a groan instead. “Great, you’re a jokester too. You’re just the whole package, huh, bud?”

The man chuckled. “When you’ve driven a taxi around for as long as I have, you learn to make things a little more interesting. Besides, you’d be surprised how dull the people I drive around here are. Tokyo is not full of spritely, conversation-worthy people, I’ll tell you that much. About the most interesting type of folks here are the sobbing drunks.” He gave a small tut thoughtfully. “Seriously, all the drunks here are hysterical and depressing. This town is one of the quirkiest if I ever saw one. And that’s coming from a man who’s driven for people in LA.”

Shikamaru whistled. “You’re telling me. First night in this godforsaken city and I end up waking here, _hungover_. Doesn’t get much better than this.”

The cabby gave him a sideways glance up on the rearview mirror shortly before returning his gaze back onto the road. “Yeah, about that. You seem a bit young for drinking…”

“Got suckered into it I guess. Otherwise I’d never do it.” Shikamaru confessed.

The man flinched. “Owch. That’s gotta suck. First time then?” he said sympathetically.

“Oh yeah.” The dark-haired boy sighed.

“Well,” the man began, turning to give him a small pat on the knee, “…if it’s any consolation, you’re not dead in a ditch somewhere, eh?”

“Wow,” Shikamaru snorted. “ _And_ you’re optimistic.”

Driving into the front entrance, the cab finally stopped at his hotel. “Eh, just call me Sabu.”

Shikamaru’s faced scrunched up in confusion. Sabu? He’d heard that name before from somewhere— _Oh my god_ , their fucking cabby from back in the _states?_ Shikamaru whipped around to look him in the face incredulously. “You’re not…”

“Don’t ask questions, kid,” Sabu said, before yanking the mask on his face off dramatically. “I’m everywhere.”

Shikamaru stared at him with a flat intensity, before slowly opening the door and edging away awkwardly after the random ’ ** _click_**!’ that indicated the car doors unlocking. As soon as he was out of the car, the teen walked backward a few steps, keeping eye-contact with Sabu the entire time, before spinning on his heel and never looking back, eyes wide.

_Huh, guess you’re still a little drunk._

 

* * *

 

Kiba was walking around a very crowded Harajuku, Tokyo, disorientated and utterly lost. He was impressed with the grand city, but he couldn’t read a damn thing. “Man, what’s with all these weird symbols? They’re worse than my chicken scratch!” He squinted at all the signs, only seeing a handful of English and they were usually only weird phrases belonging to stores such as, _The Body Shop_ (What the hell even is that? Sounds like a fucking horror attraction…) and Wolfgang Puck (Was that supposed to even mean anything to foreigner or was this an insider sorta’ thing?). He stood there shaking his head in frustration. _At least I know a McDonald’s when I see one, Don’t need any sort of Japanese for that,_ Kiba thought as he caught a glimpse of the shop’s yellow “M” Logo. Suddenly, he noticed a flicker of spiky raven hair from the corner of his eye. “Sasuke?” he whipped around questioningly to see it disappearing down an alley way. He followed it eagerly, a smile making its way past his lips as he trotted after it.

The figure came to stop by near a clearing in one of the streets to watch a pair of people dancing in after school uniform to a stereo. His head bopped to the music slightly and Kiba managed to catch up to him. “Hey—” his palm came up to rest on the boy’s shoulder as he tried greeting him, but his smile faltered when he was met with an unfamiliar face and brown eyes. The boy turned to look at him a little confused, but Kiba could only breathe out a speechless, _“Oh.”_

As the other stared at him with a look of puzzlement, he just waved him off, offering up a friendly smile. “Ah…it’s nothing! I just…you looked like─?” When he saw the boy’s confusion only deepen, he gave up. “…Sorry.” He responded back lamely, patting his shoulder a few times in embarrassment, and the other returned to appreciating the street dancers.

Dejectedly, Kiba stood by him a while longer before looking up to see what the other boy seemed so interested in. Upon closer inspection, the little duo wasn’t just dancing; they were _break_ dancing, which was Kiba’s favourite and specialty. _Ah no way, they’re pretty good!_ The brunette grinned, moving along to the beat just like the guy next to him.

He felt giddy as he watched them coordinate expertly on the pavement, moving with their entire body and a smile to match on their expressions as they went all out.

The tattooed teen walked up to the one who had stopped to watch his shorter companion take the lead. He was sweating and swaying his entire body to the rhythm, only tearing his gaze away when Kiba walked up next to him.

“Mind if I join in?” he propositioned, his body hunched over slightly as he was afraid the guy wouldn’t understand English.

To his surprise and major relief, he was quite fluent.

“I haven’t seen you around here before,” he responded lightly, wiping his forehead with a towel. “You break dance?” the other inquired with a spark of interest in his eyes.

Kiba’s own expression lit up as he felt a bit of pride swell in him. “Yeah! It’s kinda’ a hobby of mine.” He said, stretching his arms to his sides and shaking his legs out. “I’ll show you.”

The smaller one on the long piece of cardboard stopped his practicing to get up and watch too, joining his comrade’s side, intrigued by the newcomer.

Taking a few steps forward, he took a deep breath, getting a feel for the song that started playing, _Negative Thinking,_ he realized, by tapping his foot back into the beat before swaying his hips and abdomen into it, slowly at first, his head following in and his feet scooting back and forth in rapid succession. He got into the swing of it by kicking his legs and swaying back and forth, side stepping into deliberate circles. Picking up speed, he started moving his legs all around him until he felt the climax of the music start again, the main melody blasting through the speakers. He dived in then, standing up on only two hands and throwing his legs up in a complex set of moves that matched the down beats and accents of the robotic song. Pushing back, he back flipped and rolled onto his legs and arms like a crab, pushing his legs out one after the other and his stomach flexing up into the movements. Going even faster, he flipped over a few times with his legs, rotating on his arms in a 360° before rolling forward onto his back and spinning at the other two’s feet in a swift motion, creating a whirl of windmills. He continued to go round, elevating higher by pushing himself onto his arms and then dropping back down leisurely, slowing down like a top.

As the music fluctuated again into a more pronounced segment, Kiba slid onto his knees, dropping down on all fours before thrusting his legs up and holding himself up on only one arm. He managed to bend down before jerking back onto his two feet and gliding them over asphalt gracefully. His back arched back and his legs buckled to the resonance of mechanical movement, leaning in lower until he was back onto his back, kicking his legs wildly around him to flip back into a crouched position, one leg out to balance him.

 He stopped then, breathing heavily when suddenly, there was a loud round of applause and whooping. He turned to find that an audience had formed in his presence, and they all seemed very awe stricken by his performance. When he looked up at the two men, their eyes were wide and their jaws had gone slack. Kiba couldn’t help the small nervous chuckle that bubbled up out of him as he stumbled back on his feet. He saw the Sasuke-hair look-alike stare back at him with a shining admiration in his eyes, jogging up to offer him a high-five which he returned excitedly.

He felt the rush of adrenaline slowly fade as a content feeling settled at the pit of his tummy.

 _Maybe he could fit in Tokyo after all_ , he beamed.

 

* * *

 

The raven was all in all, exhausted, cold, and very frustrated. He had gotten lost on his way back to the hotel, and was in a system of alleyways where not a single cabby was to be found. The whole thing was suspicious to say in the least. Dropping heavily onto his rear on a step on the mostly lonely street, he sighed. For a moment, he just sat there, rubbing at his arms idly for a good five minutes to keep himself somewhat warm. Slipping his phone out to check the time, his eyes briefly skimmed the numbers, _6:56PM_ , that flashed on his screen before they were abruptly streaked away from his vision, the phone entirely taken right. Out. Of. His. Fucking. Hands.

His head whipped around to see a boy in mussed blonde hair running away wildly, only turning his head for a fraction of a second to give him a mischievous smile that made his eyes dance with mirth. He wanted to yell out something menacing back but found that he was unable to do jack-squat as he tried, rendering him temporarily speechless. But what really caught his following gaze was the golden locks defined by the setting sun. They caused a bout of nostalgia to flash in his mind as the same light he had witnessed last night in the midst of his wacked up memories. _That’s the same spark of blonde as before…!_ He shook his head, disregarding it and telling himself that he could figure that out later before noticing that his mouth had been hanging open the whole time. He shut it roughly before it fell open again like a fish out of water, his brain obviously unable to register the stupidity of his situation. Befuddled beyond reason, he raised his hands up to his hair to hold his head in complete disbelief. _WHO STEALS IN BROAD DAYLIGHT!?!?_

Getting up to chase after his thief, he hopped up onto sidewalk away from the stands and rolling carts. The mysterious boy was headed into bustling downtown Tokyo, where he probably meant to lose Sasuke in the crowds and insistent salesmen and women who kept trying to offer the boy free food. He declined loudly before ducking under a girl’s tray of deserts after the other. It was annoying have to mutter out a million _“Excuse me”’_ s every five seconds. On the other hand, the blonde was light on his feet, even impressing Sasuke by jumping over a man’s display of Takoyaki cleanly without knocking any of it out of place. _And now he can fucking perform gymnastics?!_

Sasuke was growing tired of giving this boy chase. He had managed to get close once, even yelling, _“Give it back!”_ only to get a, “ _No way!”_ and a laugh in response.  The only reason he hadn’t caught up was because dodging became less and less of an option as crowds only got thicker, and thicker. _If only there weren’t so many damn people in the way…then I could run at full speed and definitely catch him!_ _“Tck!”_ ing, Sasuke made a beeline for a different street, hoping to catch the other in the midst of false hope. He pretended to get lost before he careened into another road where he followed an alleyway that should’ve intercepted the street the other boy was headed down. In a sense, this was just a shortcut that should give him the double advantage. He catches the boy both off guard and cuts him off, beating him at his own game. Of course, he hadn’t factored in the time it would take for him to climb over the dumb metal fence that was conveniently placed in his way, causing him to curse loudly and miss his mark as he saw him jog by care freely. _At least he slowed down…_ Sasuke thought annoyed as he clung to the metal unenthusiastically. Scrambling over the fence, the pale teen nearly tipped over and fell flat on his face before catching himself with an outstretched hand. _Come on Sasuke, don’t lose you’re edge now!_

Slipping by undetected, he fell in line right behind him as the boy nimbly avoided citizens and trotted down a less noisy street that dipped down, giving Sasuke all the free space and momentum he needed to jump him. “Gotcha’!” he yelled triumphantly as the blonde gasped and tumbled forward, Sasuke landing smack on top of him.

“Now hand it over!” Sasuke growled, reaching out for his phone childishly despite not being able to actually reach it. The blue-eyed teen had landed with both hands outstretched in front of him, making it very difficult for Sasuke to grab what he was looking for. When this became evident, Sasuke attempted crawling over the other’s ass, much to the other’s horror. He felt the pale boy’s heavy presence on his back and “ _Oof!”ed_ when he pushed himself up with his hand on the tan teen’s shoulder.

“Alright! Alright! Just, stop moving! You’re making this very difficult, y’know!” Sasuke stopped his movements and waited, simply settling for straddling his waist. When he whimpered, Sasuke looked down at the back of the other’s messy hair in confusion. “Ow, I think you sprained my ankle.” The boy muffled out with a wince.

Alarmed, Sasuke promptly loosened his grip in concern, even if momentarily, but that was all that the other needed. With a small smirk, the blonde bucked back, successfully throwing Sasuke off of his dorsal side and running away again with a cackle. “Just kidding!” He chirped, twisting back to send him a wink while sticking out his tongue mockingly.

Rolling over onto his back, the dark-eyed boy rubbed at his face frustrated before getting back up on his feet to chase him down. _What was that, Sasuke? You really have softened up. After all, since when have you ever cared about strangers?_ He shook his head. Not only that but d _ammit_ was this kid getting on his nerves faster than even fucking Kiba could, and that was saying something! As soon as he caught his sorry ass, he was going to wish that he had gotten away with only a sprained ankle!

Grumbling under his breath, Sasuke sprinted right after the blonde. The raven was surprised to find himself getting stuck in random crowds of people, the streets seemingly becoming even more densely populated as the minutes ticked. His guess was that it was going to continue to swarm with people the later it became, Downtown Tokyo appearing to be more of a late evening attraction where people came to bustle about with friends and coworkers or to simply have a good time. Except when he was in such a foul mood, Sasuke felt like _murdering_ people instead, especially when they blocked him right in his path to squeeze past him docilely. The Uchiha was only more aggravated when he noticed the blonde fucking _toying_ with him as he even waited for him to catch up. Honestly, he only did it so that the opportunity to greet him with snarky comments such as, “What took you so long?” and the classic, “You slowpoke!” was presented to him, and since it seemed to be working fantastically for him thus far, as he could clearly see from the stupid smirk plastered all over his face, it only further reinforced the ember in the Uchiha’s eyes.

 _That’s **IT**! This fucker’s going down!!_ But to make this work, he was going to have to switch game plans. Sasuke hummed thoughtfully, trotting around and squeezing through various strangers to try and get a glimpse of everything. Maybe if he saw something, it would trigger his brain into thinking strategically, so he kept on getting up on his tippy toes to look at all the stands and their merchandise. He saw one stand in particular giving away sling shots to participants who could knock down the farthest targets. Well, _‘giving away’_ was probably the wrong term since there was a small entrance free. When Sasuke looked over at the prices, they were fair enough. 300 yen for four rubber balls, 700 yen for a dozen.

Sasuke was confident enough that he wasn’t going to even need two.

Walking up to the stand casually, the man running it looked at the Uchiha funny, as if he was too old, _which, truth be told, he was,_ scrutinizing him almost judgmentally before just shrugging it off. Money was money, and he wasn’t about to turn down potential customers regardless of their age. I mean, why should he care if a freakin’ _eighty_ year old wanted to win a slingshot? If anything, it would’ve been refreshing to see that. Handing the raven his change, Sasuke stood in front of the counter experimentally, choosing one of the wooden slingshots carefully before examining it. It didn’t look misconfigured, if anything, these slingshots were quite nice, especially since these were meant as children prizes. It was a surprise to see such fine traditional craftsmen ship on such simple toys, and the pale boy couldn’t help but feel a sense of appreciation for the person who took their time to have carved them so.

Feeling comfortable that the slingshots weren’t rigged, he turned to face one of the most distant targets. There were a lot of closer ones that offered smaller prizes, but Sasuke wasn’t interested. He kept his focus on the sole objective of this whole thing. Readying his slingshot and brushing his fingers over the smooth padding of the slingshot and its string, he pulled back and let go. _If it doesn’t fall, I swear to my damn Uchiha hair I’m going to exorcise the guy at this stand for rigging freaken **kid’s** games._

The ball hit its target cleanly and with the utmost precision, its speed warranting definite annihilation as the target flopped back and a small bell started ringing in response. Sasuke sighed, not that he had doubted he wouldn’t get it right on, but you never knew when there were flaws in the system…right? The raven hadn’t noticed that a crowd of people had gathered around behind him, half kids, half adults, all which had begun to cheer in excitement and awe with the amount of skill the boy possessed. He was met with an alarming amount of adoring stares, mainly those belonging to woman, _which by now, he was at least used to,_ but some also from the children teetering at his feet. Some of them were barely tall enough to oversee the damn table!! He shook his head, trying to be polite but time conserving as he waved at the man at the stand.

“I’ll just…take this now..!” he hollered over the wave of people who were now suddenly very interested in playing the silly game, and the young adult working the stand just seemed to stand there in shock. Whether it was his fault or the alarming amount of customers, he wasn’t sure, but he wasn’t going to stick around to find out.

Shoving the toy in the waist band of his jeans— _not gonna friggin’ get robbed again, no sir—_ the raven tuned everything out in search of his eccentric blonde. When he found him, he was sitting contentedly on top of a building’s roof, elbows resting on his knees and face nestled into cupped hands. _What the hell, since when did he get up there?_ From the looks of it, he had been watching the exchange the entire time, making Sasuke curse.

 _Dammit, let’s just hope he’s not on to me yet_. Sour from having his element of surprise taken away from him, he pulled out the wooden toy quickly. Tilting his head to the side, the blonde looked at it with a look of confusion before his face started to scrunch up as he began to fit the pieces together. Pushing back one of the rubber balls he had snagged from the counter (call it a little treat for himself since he did pay for three balls and only ended up using one), he swiftly let go. Before the blonde could seem to register what was happening, Sasuke proved to be too fast for him as the ball hit him straight in the space between his eyes. Wobbling back, the boy yelped as he rolled off the edge of the building, landing face first into a tarp before bouncing off it and sliding roughly onto asphalt, precisely on his bottom, a trail of dirt flying up behind him. He was coughing and shielding his eyes as Sasuke bolted toward the same spot, skidding into view to block his way out of the narrow alley. Once he had gotten there, he could clearly hear the boy’s undignified groans as he rubbed his butt sullenly.

“What the hell!?” he snapped childishly. “You didn’t have to be so rough, y’know!”

The raven simply glowered down at him unimpressed, hand outstretched, palm up.

The other boy gave him an incredulous look as his companion seemed hell bent on ignoring him now. _The bastard, giving me the silent treatment! Who does he think he is!?_ Granted, he did kind of deserve it since he _did_ kinda’ jack his phone but life was tough all around, man.

Sniffing, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out the iPhone slowly, keeping eye-contact with the raven the entire time as he did so. When he finally dropped it into the other’s hands rather dramatically, Sasuke was shocked to see the state it was in. He should’ve known better than to have gone all ninja on the boy’s ass but he had gone pretty easy on him too, considering his usual way of handling matters. Sasuke could’ve just beaten him in their first encounter but he didn’t. He could’ve done the same now, but he wasn’t going to. Something about this kid made him feel a little less mad, and a little more forgiving but at the same time, that much more riled up. When he couldn’t figure out why he was cutting him slack, he felt the aggravation swell in him. But then his eyes focused in a little closer and he was able to see his own reflection in those big blue orbs.

It was his eyes. They were the same as his own. That’s how they pacified him so well.

Sasuke was somewhat speechless now. Maybe even a bit uneasy as deep, azure melted into his gaze. He looked away briefly, pretending to regain interest in his phone when the blonde seemed to revert back to pouting.

“A thanks would’ve been appreciated.” The tanned boy mumbled to the ground and Sasuke whipped back to look at him in disbelief.

“Thank you? Are you kidding me? You ro—” He was only stopped from speaking when the shorter boy threw a hand up in restraint.

“I know! Yeesh. You whine like a damn girl. I was just saying since I could’ve refused. Also, you kinda’ hurt me a lot more than I hurt you.”

“Again, you stole from _me_.” The Uchiha scoffed.

“I wasn’t _stealing,”_ the blonde groaned, rolling his eyes. “…I was just… _borrowing_ it, that’s all!” he finished stubbornly, crossing his arms.

Sasuke grimaced. “Sounds like stealing to me.”

“Does _not!”_ he cried.

“And there’s a lock on my phone.” He pointed out.

“Nothing I can’t crack.” The other boy grinned proudly.

“It’s also set to erase all of its data after too many failed attempts.”

The blonde shrugged. “Not that I care, but if I did, I could find ways to prevent that.”

Sasuke look positively annoyed. “I don’t believe you.”

“I don’t care if you do!” the other boy huffed, a little _too_ loudly.

The Uchiha smirked. “Looks like you do.”

Eyes widening, the blonde blushed furiously, alighting a very pleasant feeling in Sasuke. “It’s not that big of a deal.” He grunted, beginning to push himself up. Shaking his head, Sasuke found himself offering a hand to the boy who took it tentatively only after staring at it and then him suspiciously. Mumbling out a small thanks, his fingers lingered on Sasuke’s cold hand before pushing it away and brushing his own against his leg self-consciously.

They had seemed to have made a subliminal truce.

As Sasuke was about to turn heel and leave, he felt the other grab his wrist and inspect his phone deliberately. His eyes were wide as he examined the thin crack that ran along the upper right edge of the screen and sighed. “Crap, I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to─” This time, Sasuke was the one to cut him off, pulling his hand away gently to tuck his cell in his back pocket.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s just a scratch. I can always get another one anyway,” he said, remaining stoic and detached, as if the phone didn’t mean a damn thing to him. The blonde wasn’t having it, though, and scowled as he said it.

“Fine, have it your way, you cold-hearted bastard, but at least let me make it up to you, somehow.” He said firmly, coming to grip the other’s wrist again, much to Sasuke’s confusion. He wanted to feel disturbed by the touch, but found that he didn’t really care, or at least, he wanted to not care. He obviously thought _something_ of it.

 _It’s annoying and inconvenient,_ Sasuke settled. _Nothing more, nothing less._

“I said don’t worry about!” He made to tug his hand away but was unable to as the blonde’s hold on him only tightened.

“Well I obviously am worrying about it, and you saying to not worry about it isn’t going to stop me from worrying about it!” he growled back ineloquently, squinting his eyes in frustration.

Sasuke felt absolutely dumbstruck at this boy’s antics and stupidly persistent personality as he looked back up at him stubbornly. “Why do you care so much!?” he yelled back, his eyes wide and stupefied.

“I don’t know!?” the blonde yelled back lamely as he tugged on the raven’s wrist exasperatedly. “I just…I don’t want to feel like I owe you or anything!”

The Uchiha just eyed him questioningly, scrunching up his face as if to he was the most irrational thing on the planet when the blonde just blushed a bright pink. Annoyed beyond reason at his intense stare, he cracked. “Shut up and say yes already, you bastard!!”

“No!” the raven defied.

The blonde muffled a scream and raked a hand through his face, groaning. “Fuck this! I don’t need your permission!” he whaled out before dragging the other behind him in spite of his wishes, the raven sliding in after him with a long line of complaints and shouts.

“Stop it!”

“No! We’re going out for Ramen!” he finally decided, making it sound so damn casual at the same time.

“Again?!” Sasuke screeched.

“Screw you!” the other called back, and Sasuke had to stop in shock as it all started to come back to him.

“ _Screw you?_ ” The blonde tensed up as the raven refused to budge, unwilling to follow anymore (or at least unwilling to be _dragged_ anymore). “You say that as if you knew I had ramen last night.” Sasuke hissed, his memories slowly becoming more coordinated by the second.

Suddenly, the blonde was laughing, a hand coming to rest at the back of his head sheepishly. “Whoops, I guess you remember now, huh?” He kept laughing and Sasuke had to shake him to get his attention.

“What. Did. You. _Do!?_ ”

He gave him a sheepish grin. “Okay, so… Remember when Teuchi was talking about smuggling in alcohol?” There was a pregnant pause as Sasuke stared at him wide-eyed, fitting all the pieces together. “ _Yeeeaaaah_ , that was me.”

_Akio & Hiroki's Character Design_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter (entire plot, actually) is based heavily off of this music video, so go check it out please! It’s hella fun, I promise! I also imagine this to be what their music video would look like once they make it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NdR71bozts (How cute would it be if Sasuke could dance that happily with his band? HELLA CUTE, THAT’S WHAT.)  
> (1) That guy taking his bunny on a walk was a reference to this really interesting video, lol. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UC0eO5-q45U I recommend you watch it to give you an idea of what Yoyogi park is like! Also, for those of you who don’t know who rockabilly dancers are (the ones Chouji tripped and stuff during his fabulous getaway) they are also in this video. They’re the ones dancing to a Japanese rendition of rock and roll. It’s hard to miss!


	5. It's Not Lying If You Didn't Know About It

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ack, it's been a while, but I've been working on bunch of other stuff, so you'll just have to bear with me! (I have like three other fics waiting in line besides this one!) Not to mention I've been having a rather rough time, but don't let that stop you from enjoying the next installment! This is a 99% Sasnar bonding chapter so I hope that you guys'll enjoy it! We're finally getting past the introductory section and onto to the actual plot and fun stuff! ♡✧。 (⋈◍＞◡＜◍)。✧♡ P.S. I'll add art for this chapter later because it's really late and I have to work on my other fics, haha xD Which speaking of it being late, yeah! If there are typos, sorry! I haven't been able to exactly proof read this yet so it's pretty raw and stuff! But anyway, enjoy!!

 

_“YOU!?”_

The blonde nodded. “Yes?”

The Uchiha groaned before he whirled back on him suddenly, the blonde having to lean back considerably before their foreheads could collide painfully. “Wait.” The other boy stared at the raven as he was scrutinized very carefully. “How did you get to me? I made sure I only drank from closed water bottles and that’s. _It_.” He reminded harshly, his eyes so cold that it almost made the blonde shiver.

“Oh yeah,” the blonde laughed as he remembered the old stick in the mud at the party. He would hardly pay mind to strangers, and when he did, he pretty much tried to get away from them as soon as they’d come. He could only wonder how people could like him so damn much. The guy was a total prick! “You were especially hard to sucker into drinking, so I figured if I couldn’t get you directly…” the blonde slowly prodded the frustrated teen away with his index finger. “…I could always get you indirectly,” he shrugged.

The Uchiha stayed silent, not seeming to be able to tell when he could’ve taken the alcohol into his system when the blonde continued, “Looks like you’re not as smart as you think.” He grinned impishly, apparently getting a kick out of one-upping him. In return, Sasuke shot him his famous Uchiha glare and was extremely close to flicking him off. “It was in the fish cakes, you dumbass.”

Looking blankly back at him, he remembered their strange taste and how he briefly wondered if they were meant to taste that way before shrugging it off as no big deal. _That’s right… Shortly after consuming them, I had a sick feeling…and then…_ Well, after that, everything was blank. As far as he could tell, the admission seemed to fit the tale, logic-wise.

He felt his jaw clamp together, and his eye brows furrow in a mixture of disbelief and anger. “But how?” he had to ask. After all, if the blonde was telling the truth, then Teuchi didn’t tamper with any of his food. And since Teuchi was the one serving said food, only he could’ve been the one to have the time to alter any of its contents…right?

“I soaked a whole batch in vodka before Teuchi began his shift, and you ate them almost one right after the other!” He chirped, obviously very pleased with the Uchiha’s mistake. “That was the equivalent to taking two shots of it at once, and for someone who’s never even handled any alcohol in their system…well, you can imagine how much of a toll it would to take on _your_ body.”

As the blonde snickered in the background, Sasuke felt his hand clenching and coming up to punch the other, but he silenced his rage. Fighting wasn’t going to change what happened, and while it might help him feel more even with the blonde, there was always other, _classier_ ways of getting back at him.

“I would kill you if it weren’t illegal, you know.” Sasuke grounded out between his teeth.

The blonde reached forward to pull at one of his pale cheeks playfully. “Aw, I’m sure you would,” he sang. “And I’m flattered that you would deem me worthy of so much attention, Mr. Rockstar.” He tittered.

Sasuke pulled away from his touch sharply and snorted at him and his stupidly cheesy grin. Rubbing at his offended cheek softly, he frowned. “Well you shouldn’t be,” he responded simply. He should be infuriated about getting tricked and then subsequently drunk, especially as that could’ve landed him in a load of trouble, but for some reason, he only felt immensely annoyed. Nothing much more than just a desire to dump him in the nearest sea and watch as he sank slowly down below his feet. It would be funny, anyway. It’s like he couldn’t take any of this seriously. After all, could you blame him? This was all a little unbelievable. I mean, this kid single-handedly threw an entire party into an intoxicated driven mass and for what? Some free cash? To pick-pocket anything remotely valuable? He had to admit, although begrudgingly, to the fact that the blonde was quite clever when it came to getting his way for such a seemingly dumbass delinquent.

“But _you_ should,” blue-eyes said then, swiftly pulling his companion back to his side to follow him. “Because we’re going out for ramen!” he cheered happily all of a sudden, completely twisting the conversation to where he wanted it. Fortunately, Sasuke seemed to let him. He was too tired to fight with the other anyway.

“Huh? This again?” the raven groaned, almost losing his footing as he was tugged along. He fell back in step with the blonde and sighed, “You could at least let go of me.”

“Nope!” The blonde laughed at the other’s grumbling and tugged him closer, eliciting another grunt from the raven. “How do I know you’ll come along willingly?”

Sasuke scowled. They both knew all too well what would really happen. After a displeased huff, the raven relented. “Fair point.”

Content that he was now behaving, the blonde smacked his shoulder vigorously with his free hand. “That’s the spirit!” he said, before leaning over his ear ominously. “Oh and by the way, you’re my prisoner now. Which means you won’t ever be leaving.”

As Sasuke leaned back casually to give him a cock of his brow and funny look to match, the blonde shouted. “This is a kidnapping!” the look of surprise on his face made him look like _he_ was the kidnapee just realizing it and Sasuke was the kidnapper. Thankfully most of the Japanese seemed to not understand English very well as only a few stared in mild concern, probably wondering if they had their definition of kidnapping correct or not. After all, neither one of them looked to be in any real danger, and the smiles on their faces didn’t quite give the image of a crime taking place.

“Shut up,” the raven mumbled, shoving a hand in the other’s face to put some distance between them, but it was hard to concentrate when he felt the blonde’s hand slip down his wrist to grip his palm because of it. His hand was about to instinctively wrap around his to ensure he wouldn’t let go until he realized what he was doing just in time to merely tap the blonde’s fingers with his own. He felt heat rise up his neck suddenly and he turned away as the blonde laughed at Sasuke’s nature.

“That was mean.” He grinned, rubbing his face as they weaved through crowds. Sasuke only graced that with a snort as the blonde seemed oblivious to his little mess up. For a few seconds, Sasuke wondered if he could actually hold his hand back without the blonde finding it strange or even noticing, but he immediately scolded himself for thinking that at all. _What the hell is wrong with you?_ He bit down hard on his teeth in hopes of distracting himself from conjuring up even weirder ideas but was saved from it when a very familiar smell hit his nose.

He snapped his attention to the blonde as he grinned widely and tugged on his arm giddily, calling out to him loudly over the crowds.

When he didn’t make any sign of understanding, though, the blonde rolled his eyes and huffed as he leaned in close to breath directly into Sasuke’s ear.

“Man, slow _and_ deaf,” the blonde pouted, causing Sasuke to bristle slightly at the characterization before he felt his whole body tingle faintly from the puffs of air rushing down his side. “I _said_ , come on, you flippin’ tortuous! I think it’s around here.”

As Sasuke was about to question him further, he was abruptly plopped down into a seat beside the bubbly blonde who had a face-splitting grin on from the moment they peered in through the tarps. He noticed his companion wriggle excitedly before the raven turned to look around at the place. Huh. Did all ramen places look this identical or was he—

“Naruto!” Teuchi shouted heartily as the boy got up on his tippy toes to get his hair ruffled by the other man. The blonde, who Sasuke now knew as _Naruto_ , had his eyes shut tight as the old gent practically squished him against the counter with his rough affection. “How’s my favourite and best customer doing today?” he smiled warmly at the smaller boy as he ran a hand through his now, even _more_ messed up hair sheepishly.

“Not so bad anymore now that I’m here,” Naruto grinned as Teuchi chuckled, shaking his head at the blatant compliment.

 _This_ was Teuchi’s so called best customer? Sasuke had to sit back and think about that for a while as it all started to makes sense in his head when he was pulled out of his thoughts by the old man himself. “And Sasuke! It’s nice to see you again! Up for round two of the world’s best ramen?” He boasted, a devious glint in his eye telling him that he still wasn’t over Sasuke’s comment from yesterday. …Was it yesterday? Or had that party been the day before? Hell, how did he even know today was Sunday? Now that he thought about it, it could damn well be Monday and he’d never even know. Man, just thinking about it made him feel all jumbled up again and vastly disorientated.

Despite this, he simply opted for his usual stoic demeanor and rested his head on clasped hands casually, making him look as pensive as he felt. “Do I have a choice?” He said it as more of a statement than anything, but that didn’t seem to deter Teuchi for a second.

“Great! I’m guessing you’ll both be having the same thing?”

Naruto nodded politely back up at him and offered him an excited smile. “Yup! The usual.”

As he left and Naruto made himself comfortable on the stand’s counter, Sasuke chanced a peek at his newfound companion. Now that they were in a better lit area, Sasuke could see the shadow of three whisker-like marks, almost perfectly parallel to one another on the blonde’s face. He could see another set of whiskers on his opposite cheek peeking out from under his arm that was placed out in front of him for support as he shifted his head to gaze up at the small paper indicating today’s special on ramen. His skin was also remarkably tan and he found it to be very odd, considering how everyone else was as pale as could be in Japan, and the ones that weren’t could never match the same natural honey colour anyway. Even so, it wasn’t by much, just a subtle golden brown hue, but it was definitely enough to catch anyone’s eye around here; which meant that Naruto was either a foreigner, or an alien, because there was no way in hell anyone could have bright golden hair like his and still claim that it was only a dyed blonde. He could see the blonde on his damn eyelashes for god’s sake, it was natural and no one could fool him.

Taking his eyes off the small sign, Naruto could see Sasuke glowering at him from beside the counter. He looked back just as daringly to give him a frown of his own. It’s like the damn Uchiha only knew how to look pissed. “What’s wrong with you?” he asked suddenly, scrunching his nose up in a scowl as the raven simply turned away feigning ignorance.

“Nothing.”

 _Liar_ , went unsaid between the two as Naruto’s face became more annoyed at how insufferable his companion was. There was no way he was buying that load of bull. “You were staring. Is there something on my face?”

“No, but there is an idiot _behind_ it.”

Twitching irritably, Naruto clenched and unclenched his fists. “Yeah? W-well you…you reek of idiot!”

Sasuke snorted at the lame come back. “That’s because some idiot decided to get me drunk on their idiocy.”

Naruto was dangerously close to clocking him in his stupid pretty boy face when he found the flaw in his statement. Triumphantly, he rose from his seat cockily. “And _you_ fell for it!!” he boasted, cackling maniacally.

Feeling his own anger  bubble at that, Sasuke was about to rise out of his seat too when Teuchi slid two bowls of ramen in front of them, a big, confident smile on his face.

“Your ramen, gentlemen!” Teuchi sang.

Naruto sat back down in his seat in a heartbeat, mouth practically watering, and Sasuke had to wonder just how short his attention span was. Or maybe he was just incredibly bipolar? Either way, the raven just sighed. He supposed their little argument had been his fault anyway, not that he’d admit to it out loud, but he knew where the fault lied, even if he pretended like he didn’t. He didn’t know what exactly compelled him to act so harshly towards the other, especially when he had done nothing particularly wrong in the first place. _That was, of course, excluding the whole fiasco last night and the stealing._ That being said, he decided to push their little quarrel aside too as he eyed the ramen suspiciously. He couldn’t help it. Ramen was now on his “not trustworthy” list. As if _that_ list wasn’t long enough already…

“Hey, you weirdo! Aren’t you gonna eat?” When Sasuke turned to regard the blonde, he was met with big glowing eyes and a munching mouthful of ramen, which was soon sucked up by the blonde faster than he could register. He stared for a while before making a look of distaste at his eagerness. “It’s gonna get cold.”

“I like it better cold,” he lied, picking up his chopsticks broodingly as the blonde chugged down the left over soup in his bowl. When Naruto opened his big fat mouth to retort, Sasuke shoved a flat hand right in his personal space to shut him the hell up. “And I know what you’re about to say. I’m not interested in hearing it so don’t you dare.”

The blonde shut his mouth and slumped in his chair, giving him a sulky look. “What are you, psychic now? You can’t tell what I was about to say! What was I about to say?!”

“Just like you’re soul, or better yet, you don’t have one.

Naruto sat dumbly in his chair. “How did you…”

“Psychic.” Sasuke joked.

“You’re a fucking asshole.”

“So I’ve heard.”

As Sasuke slurped the noodles, he couldn’t help but notice Naruto watch intently. He tried ignoring him, but when he started giggling because he skipped eating his fish cakes, he had to stop.

“Do you want me to test-taste them for you, Mr. Uchiha?” Naruto sneered.

Sasuke wanted to kick him out of his chair. Then again…nothing was stopping him, so he did just that. Naruto toppled out of his spot with a yelp, making Sasuke grin deviously at his noodles.

“BASTARD!!” Naruto scrambled back into his seat to give Sasuke a hard time back, pushing him roughly as Sasuke latched onto his own like Elmer’s Super Glue. Teuchi walked in on their scuffling and stared along with Ayame as they tried desperately to knock each other off balance. So far, it seemed as though they were evenly matched.

“Uh…ahem!” the old gent shocked them both out of their quarrelling and watched them owlishly.

Naruto was the first to recover. “Can I have seconds?!”

 

* * *

 

Kiba had managed to hitch a ride back to the hotel. He cringed as he noticed how late he had been to do so, but shrugged it off anyway. He just hoped he wouldn’t get an earful for this.

Walking into the lobby, the brunette was stunned to see a large majority of the staff occupying it, most of whom were at the café covered in blankets and nursing cups of coffee.

He was about to pinch himself back awake when he noticed Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji jogging his way.

“Kiba! Where the hell have you been!?” Ino cried, stopping in front of him to level him with a stern glare. Despite this, he could see the worry in her pale blue eyes and bit back from giving her a foul response back.

He swallowed dumbly instead.

“I…w-well I’m pretty sure I woke up at a brothel for one.” The brunette gave her a bewildered look, who the blonde whole-heartedly returned.

“A brothel?” Shikamaru asked incredulously.

“I know it sounds way out of whack, but I swear I did!” he insisted, gesturing wildly with his hands. “And then I ran the heck outta’ there ‘cause it was super weird and way uncomfortable! A-and after that, I got hella lost! And then I was break dancing with some really cool people for a while, and one of them offered me a ride, which was really cool, and so I was like yeah I don’t really know where my hotel is, but I know what it looks like? And then I described it to them and luckily they recognized it and knew where it was and—“ Kiba took a long deep breath, “I ended up back here,” he finished finally, his face now red from holding in his breath for so long. “Also I’m missing my wallet and phone.” He added randomly, a look of confusion showering over his features.

“Wow, uhh…” Ino seemed at a loss for words, luckily Chouji cut in.

“Wait, you lost your wallet too?”

Yeah, why? Kiba asked confuzzled.

“I did too,” Shikamaru admitted, demonstrating his empty pockets as he said so. “And just about everything else I had on me.”

“Me too! I lost my purse!” Ino cried exasperatedly.

“Whoa, that’s freaken’ weird!” Kiba yelped, feeling mildly panicky. “Wait, why are you dressed like that, Ino? I haven’t seen you wear that before.” he mentioned briefly, finally noticing the platinum blonde’s new attire. “You look nice.” He hummed, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“Hmm?” Ino looked at him confused, then back down at herself before almost face palming. “Oh, _duh_. The dress! Right…” she rolled her pale blue eyes at herself as she pondered Kiba’s question. “I got this at…hold up, I just woke up in these clothes.” She remarked, furrowing her brows in concentration as she started to actually process her thoughts and remember exactly how hungover her morning was.

“Wait, so you didn’t—” Kiba began.

“HOLY HELL, DID I JUST _STEAL_ A DRESS?!?”

“Ino, Calm down! I’m sure it’s fine! It’s not like anybody saw you, right?” Shikamaru spoke, trying to sound reassuring as the girl became even more pale than usual.

“No but—“

“Then it’s fine!” Chouji agreed, nodding his head aggressively.

Kiba snorted. “Talk about a weird day… ”

Shikamaru shrugged. “I woke up inside a taxi with a cabby who was literally driving us in circles if that helps.”

Ino held a hand up to her mouth to suppress a giggle. “What?” she said in disbelief, but they all knew Shikamaru wasn’t the joking type.

“Yeesh.” Kiba cringed, suddenly looking around for something. “Hey, has anyone seen Sasuke around?” he soliloquized.

The other three turned to look at each other nervously. Shikamaru had his brows scrunched down in deep thought and Chouji was rubbing his arm awkwardly. Ino gulped, deciding to be the spokesperson.

“Uhh, he’s been missing the longest… In fact, we were about to send a search party for the two of you.” Ino admitted, her pale eyes showing the same concern as before. It even made Kiba’s heart drop nervously.

“I was the first to get back.” Shikamaru explained, hooking his fingers in his belt loops as he slouched against a pillar. “Man, you guys should’ve seen Kakashi and Yamato. They were more hungover than anyone else. When I walked in their suite, they were both hiding under their bed sheets and pleading me to close the curtains to their room. None of them were even willing to get up to do it. It was pretty entertaining.” The dark-haired boy described in hopes that it would lighten everyone’s mood. It worked because they were all grinning at the image of it.

“Oh dude, I can’t believe I missed that!” Kiba laughed, eyes growing excited when he saw said men walking out into the café with their own blankets draping behind them like capes.

“Oh, Kiba’s back? That’s…that’s some good thing, good stuff, I mean…” There was a cough. “Welcome back,” Yamato groaned. He hunched down into a seat holding his head while Kakashi merely stared at them before turning to Kiba.

“Get us some hot cocoa, please.” Their manager deadpanned and Kiba’s smile fell smack off his face.

“I’m not you’re damn slave!” the brunette protested but nonetheless walked forward to grab the money from the elder man to do so. “Stupid hungover grandpa…” Kiba mumbled as he marched up to the counter of Starbucks. “Doesn’t even greet me…what a jerk!”

“Well, I guess that means he’s fine.” Kakashi joined Yamato at his table and sat across from him.

“Yeah, for sure.” The other three agreed.

 

* * *

 

Sasuke could not believe this dork. _This is the guy who got me drunk?_ He stared in skepticism as the blonde wolfed down his fourth bowl of ramen. Sasuke was fine with the one, but this guy was really going at it. When he finished, he let out a happy sigh and sat back, his legs kicking contentedly. _Maybe this is all a big fat nightmare, and you just haven’t woken up yet._ He let out his own sigh as he played with his leftover fishcakes. Who was he kidding? Sasuke Uchiha wasn’t that lucky.

“Hey, aren’t ya gonna eat that?” the blonde pointed to his narutomaki and Sasuke cocked his brow.

He wanted to find the malicious intent in his question but was highly annoyed that he sounded pretty damn sincere. _No, this guy’s a menace, I know he is! So why does he like to act so genuine?_ “Does it look like I’m going to eat it?” Sasuke picked one up with his chopsticks and let it smack back into the bowl dramatically before staring at the blonde with the same cold stare.

Naruto visibly tensed. “Will you ever stop answering in stupid, snarky remarks?”

Sasuke didn’t miss a beat. “Will you ever stop being nosy?”

Naruto groaned loudly, scraping a hand over his face bitterly. Rolling his eyes, the blonde reached over to him and grabbed the hand Sasuke was using to hold the chopsticks and another fishcake. Maneuvering it to his direction, he opened wide to let the spiky circle pop into his mouth. Sasuke was frozen as he did the same with the other.

“Mm, they’re cold…” he muttered as he chewed before swallowing it thoughtfully.

Suddenly, there was a dark aura invading the blonde’s alert system and he could feel his fight or flight response kick in. “…Why didn’t you just use your own chopsticks, you loser?” Sasuke growled, holding back the urge to shout that out as his hand twitched with the urge to punch him. Naruto threw his hands up in mock surrender.

“Geez, does it matter?! It’s not like you were going to use them again!!” the young boy cried, moving his arms around erratically. “Besides, I was lazy and you were already holding the damn thing!” he added hastily, looking more frantic by the minute.

“Hmm…” Naruto was now leaning back nervously as Sasuke surveyed him suspiciously. His eyes stayed locked onto his wide ones until finally, he turned away to look at the lights outside. “Well, you didn’t die, so I guess that means they weren’t drugged or anything.”

“Hey!”

Sasuke smirked in his direction and Naruto simply squinted. “Alright you jerk, I think it’s time I take you back to the hotel.”

The raven perked up at that. “What happened to keeping me prisoner?”

Naruto snorted. “You’re too much of a hassle,” he said with a small chuckle while digging in his back pocket for some crumpled-up cash.  He placed it on the counter for Teuchi, who by now was busy serving other customers. “Come on, smartass.”

Following Naruto’s lead, Sasuke got up as well and followed him out the tarps. As he did so, Naruto had his hand wrapped around his wrist again, but Sasuke hardly noticed…at first.

What should’ve been taking the raven’s attention was the large mob of people walking in downtown Tokyo and how they were going to manage to weave through them, but all he could really think about was that damn _hand._ I mean, he didn’t even _react_ to it. He was usually so repulsed by physical contact, so why then did he feel so comfortable letting it happen now? It felt almost _natural_ even.

 _Maybe you’re finally getting used to it?_ He pondered uselessly, but he knew that couldn’t be true as he narrowly avoided colliding shoulders with anyone other than Naruto.

Being familiar with the area far more than his snobby counterpart, the blonde took the lead. When Sasuke seemed to let him, he was eternally grateful. Pulling him close to his side so that he wouldn’t get separated and then promptly eaten by the crowds, Naruto navigated them to less crowded streets, yelling out what were probably polite things to get people out of their way, judging by his sheepish tone. Soon enough, the Uchiha was able to walk around without being smushed against someone.

As they made their way back down the sloping street where there was s _till_ a considerably large crowd but at least room for them to actually walk continuously, Sasuke was finally able to talk.

“Do you really know where my hotel is?” he asked skeptically, wondering for a moment if he even had a clue where they were going or not. It was always a possibility that they were just walking in circles, or that the blonde was just winging it, but he at least wanted to see what he had to say on the matter first.

Naruto gave him a wide grin as he placed a proud fist on his chest. “Of course I do! I made sure to dig up info on you guys, so I’ll get you home before midnight, princess, don’t you worry you’re pretty little head!” he teased and Sasuke glared, swatting at his cranium as Naruto dodge, seemingly predicting that.

“You are such a loser.” Despite his condescending tone, he found he didn’t mind the blonde’s antics too much, who by now was in a fit of giggles.

“What kind of princess attacks her knight in shining armor?” he joked, looking over at the signs on his tippy toes before pulling Sasuke along with him.

“What kind of knight steals?” the raven countered, enjoying the look on the blonde’s face as he said it. Revenge was sweet, no matter the amount it was served in.

“It was a joke! A joke, dammit! No need to get all personal about it!” blue-eyes exclaimed then, slowly ushering Sasuke into emptier streets. He seemed to relax as he did so. Maybe he didn’t like large groups of people either? “Besides, haven’t you ever seen _Tangled?_ ”

Sasuke smirked. “You watch Disney princess movies?”

Naruto visibly tensed at that, his grip tightening on Sasuke’s wrist. “Who the hell doesn’t? Disney’s awesome, bro. Learn to like good shit.”

There was a moment of silence as Naruto seemed to navigate across the much too lively city until Sasuke coughed. “I can’t believe you watch Disney princess movies.”

“Shaddap!!” Naruto wailed.

Sasuke had to admit, teasing Naruto was exceptionally fun, and he hardly knew the guy. Although he felt like they’d known each other for a lot longer, if he was being honest. Regardless, he kinda’ liked the guy, and maybe that’s why he messed with him so much. Usually he didn’t bother with that kind of thing, and that’s how you could tell that Kiba and him were actually pretty tight. But with Naruto? It was much more instinctual. He briefly frowned at that thought but simply ignored it. That couldn’t be it. He just made it really easy for him, he supposed.

Trying to ignore his brooding, they continued their trek back to the Uchiha’s hotel, the blonde looking up at the blank sky only to stuff his free hand into his pant’s pocket. After a while of silence, Naruto finally spoke up. “Hey, let’s play a game,” he offered then, his gaze unmoving as he looked at anything but Sasuke. He seemed oddly distracted.

The raven was quiet as he waited for his partner to elaborate. “I ask you questions, and you actually answer them honestly. How about it?”

“That doesn’t seem fair.”

Naruto squinted up at the sky and frowned thoughtfully. “Good point. Too bad life is unfair,” he hummed.

The raven snorted. “You’re learning.”

“And you’re a bad influence.” He grinned.

“You were already far gone, don’t blame this on me.”

“I can and I will!” he threatened.

“I will not take responsibility for your actions,” Sasuke deadpanned.

“You’re a piece of shit.”

“I’ll just add that under my list of aliases then.”

Naruto groaned. _This guy doesn’t know when to quit. Actually, yeah he does, he just doesn’t give a shit._ “Okay, fine! You win, dammit!! I ask you a question, and then, if you answer honestly, I’ll answer one of yours. No lying either. Promise!” he amended, demonstrating that his hand in his pocket was not crossed either for emphasis.

Sasuke simply stared back before huffing indignantly. “You’re assuming I’m even interested in asking you anything,” the raven glared at him, making the blonde look back with a pout.

“Not even if I tell you I have something you’d be interested in the end?”

Naruto grinned when he saw a spark of interest reflect in the raven’s obsidian eyes, which he was obviously trying to deny by the frown the raven wore before conceding into his curiosity. He sighed. “What do you want to know?” he asked suspiciously, prepared to neglect the blonde at the slightest hint of a subjective question.

Naruto flailed an arm about care-freely as he caught on. “It’s nothing too personal! I was just gonna ask what you and your band were doing here anyway. Is this like some sort of secret tour or whatever?”

Sasuke was surprised that he really wasn’t delving into something really personal, and that it indeed _was_ a simple question. He found himself silently thanking the cement for it. “Yeah, I guess you could call it that. It’s mostly short-notice promotion though.” The teen thought about it a bit longer before adding, “But if I’m being honest, this trip was mostly inspired by our newest song. It’s still being worked on and rewritten, but we’ve got the demo down.”

Naruto blinked at that. “Ah, you mean the first one you guys sang at last night’s concert?” when Sasuke nodded, he grinned back. “You’re turn, Mr. Rockstar.”

The raven snorted. “Why did you steal my phone in broad daylight?”

The blonde instantly whined, slapping a hand over his eyes in exasperation before peeking through his fingers at the other boy. “Oh man, you’re never gonna let that one go, are you?” When he was given a firm glower and an accusing squint to confirm this, he huffed indignantly. “Look, I thought it’d be funny to take you down a peg, alright? You seemed like _such_ an _asshole_ , but now I _know_ you’re an asshole!” Naruto’s open laugh rang pleasantly in Sasuke’s ear as he punched him in the shoulder. It bothered the pale boy that he felt apt to hearing it again but simply brushed it off as a side-effect of the hangover and ramen in his system. _Seriously, ramen twice in a row for two days without anything in between said meals? That’s_ gotta _have_ some _side-effects on the brain._ “That reminds me, how the hell did your aim get that good? That’s the kind of shit I only ever see in Holly Wood movies and anime.”

Feeling a small swell of pride, Sasuke suddenly felt funny on the inside. Maybe it was because hearing someone like Naruto, who wasn’t entirely fixated on him, compliment him meant much more than hearing it from someone who already liked him. In a way, it was also like admitting a sort of defeat, which made him smirk. “I’m just naturally gifted.”

The tanned teen gave him a skeptic look but ended up cracking a small smile nonetheless. “Well since it’s obvious that that’s the only answer I’ll be getting from you, I’ll just move on then.” Naruto ignored Sasuke’s small snort and hummed. He wasn’t gonna count that as a question sense he had given a half-assed answer. “I would ask why you’re a total prick but that might be kinda’ redundant…” the Uchiha rolled his eyes, understanding what he really meant. He thought it may be a bit personal, and Sasuke found himself appreciating his subtleness.

“You wouldn’t get a good answer out of me anyway.”

Naruto gave a curt nod at that. “Right… Ahem! Anyway, I guess… Why did you start to sing? I mean, you don’t exactly seem like the type to adore all the attention you get…it’s kind of contradictory.”

The raven had to give that one some thought. After all, he asked that question to himself a lot as well. “It’s…kind of complicated.” He admitted, noticing how Naruto tilted his head in his direction as he glanced at the street lights to see that they had to stop while cars trudged along, obviously doing it to hear him better over the sound of roaring engines. Sasuke cleared his throat. “Quite frankly, I just really like singing and writing music. It’s going to sound cheesy, but it relaxes me and makes me forget about everything else, so in the end, it doesn’t really matter what anyone else thinks.”

When the walking sign flashed an LED blue, Naruto glanced back to give him a closed-lipped, but reassuring smile. “I get what you mean. Music has a way of swaying people’s emotions. That’s why I prefer upbeat music.” Sasuke wanted to ask more about that, but figured Naruto left it short for a reason. Since they seemed to be on a mutual agreement on the matter, he decided to move on.

Suddenly, a light bulb went off on his mind. “Where did you get enough alcohol to intoxicate an entire party?” the boy inquired suddenly, a wary glint in his eye.

The raven could practically feel the blonde's sudden apprehension as he guided them across the street. With a loud cough and a sideways glare in all directions that was much too dramatic to possibly be earnest, Naruto hunched over Sasuke's ear. The whiskered boy took an obnoxiously loud intake of breath before whispering in a sing-song voice " _I've got friends on the other side_ ," making Sasuke face-palm loud enough to hear the impact.

"Did you really just make a Princess and the Frog musical number reference?" Sasuke groaned.

"AHA! So you  _DO_  watch them!!" He exclaimed, childishly pointing a finger at him. "You liar..." He squinted at the other teen critically only to see him scoff derisively.

"I never said I  _didn’t_  watch them." the broody raven pointed out. "You just  _assumed_  that I didn't."

 "I...you...but didn't you...?!?" When Naruto seemed to realize that he was right, he pouted fiercely at him. "Damn you and your convoluted logic!"

"Aaaand you're not using that word right." Sasuke smirked. "I'd say that was hardly complicated. More elusive than anything.”

Naruto's eye twitched but he relented with an aggravated,  _”nnnyeeeaaargg”._

"Well now you're not even trying." Sasuke regarded him with amusement and Naruto ignored him with another incomprehensible mumble. The raven chuckled as the blonde refused to look at him anymore. “Hey, if it’s any consolation, it’s your turn to ask a question.” He reminded and the blonde _hmphed_.

“Okay, fine.” He ground out irritated. His eyes seem to scour around the area before a small twinkle could be seen in them. “Do you like fish?”

Sasuke was suddenly caught completely off guard by the strange and sudden question. Scrunching his brows in thought, he quickly recovered with a, “Yeah, I guess it’s alright?”

“Good,” was all he got back in response as he was hastily pulled towards a stand. “’Cause you’re gonna have at least one of your very own soon.”

The raven was bewildered. _“What?”_

“You heard me,” the grinning blonde hollered back as he called out to the man in charge of the stand before shuffling some yen out of his ugly green wallet—which Sasuke just happened to notice was actually a fat _frog_ this time. _What the fuck?_ Once he was all set, the teen had a look of pure determination as he crouched down near a tank full of goldfish. Chanting something that sounded completely ridiculous under his breath, Naruto confidently held the scooper in his hand and shuffled three goldfish into a bowl before it snapped on the fourth. When the little sea creature managed to tip over into the bowl though, Naruto let out a victorious cry. “BOOYAH!! YOU GO, SOYBEAN!” the blonde hollered proudly.

Sasuke couldn’t help but give the boy an annoyed look. _“Soybean?”_ he asked then, looking more confused than when they had first arrived.

His expression only got worse when Naruto shoved the four goldfish into his hands, all of which had been transferred into a clear, plastic bag with water. “Well, he’s a really pale yellow, which made me think of a soybean,” he explained, a big grin adorning his features. “I think it really fits.”

A sour smile crept to the Uchiha’s face as he made the effort to agree and failed. “Is food all you really think about?” he blurted out instead, giving the blonde an innocent look when he glared back accusingly.

“What? No! Of _course_ not!” he wailed back, a swift and much too irrational irritation coming over him, which only served to fuel Sasuke’s savage sadism further. “See if I ever get you anything again!” The tanned teen huffed before storming off playfully. _“What happened to_ thank you _’s? See, this is why people say chivalry is dead!”_ Naruto was mumbling as Sasuke rolled his eyes, a tiny hint of a grin on his usually stoic features.

“What are the other three’s names?” Sasuke said out loud then, making sure to catch the blonde’s attention. When said blonde whipped back around excitedly, Sasuke knew he had reeled in his bait successfully.

“OH! I called this one Udon, and that one over there with the burnt looking scales is Nasu, and the very bright yellow one is Inari!!” he chirped, almost sounding affectionate to the fish and making Sasuke blink back stupidly as Naruto really had named all of them….and so quickly, too. Not to mention, he was pretty sure, like 95% sure, that all of those were different types of Japanese food, proving his earlier point.

“Wow,” Sasuke said simply, like he was speaking to a child. “I’ll try to remember that.”

_There’s no way I’m remembering that._

 

* * *

 

Eventually, when they were in a neighbourhood of crowded houses and apartments, Naruto stopped, making Sasuke look at him questioningly.

“Well, we’re here!” Naruto announced, letting go of Sasuke.

The raven, in return, looked unamused. “This doesn’t look like my memory of the hotel,” he admitted suspiciously.

“Yeesh, don’t look at me so scarily! Remember, I gave up on that kidnapping thing, so don’t expect anyone to come out of those bushes and jump you or something.” Naruto smirked, almost rolling his eyes when Sasuke looked back at the bushes anyway, eyes glowering at them as if they really were going to be his downfall. When he went so far as to throw rocks at them, Naruto was caught in a mixture of laughing and frustration. “Cheesus, Uchiha! The bushes haven’t done anything!”

“Yet,” he groused and the blonde howled with laughter.

“You’re as suspicious as they come, aren’t’cha?” he snickered.

Sasuke pulled away from the other’s grip on him when he had attempted to stop him from abusing Japan’s public plant life. “You can never be too safe, lest you get drunk and pick pocketed from.”

That’s when Naruto folded his arms in annoyance. “Maybe I won’t show you what I promised you’d be interested in then,” he said dully and Sasuke sighed.

“Joke,” he lied, and Naruto smirked.

“Oh, come on, Mr. Rockstar. You can do better than that. I know you can.”

“I’m not gonna beg when I don’t even know what it is I’m begging for.”

Naruto simply smiled deviously back. “Oh, you’re gonna want to know.”

Sasuke’s eye twitched. He knew that he shouldn’t be falling for such a dumb tactic but _damn_ if it wasn’t effective! He was just so sure of himself that he almost wanted to, even if it _was_ only to prove the stupid blonde wrong and that he really _didn’t_ want to know. But then, technically, wouldn’t that cause him to lose? This whole thing was just a double edged sword.

_Well then, better pick a side, you’re gonna lose either way anyway. Might as well pick the side you’ll actually learn something from._

“It was a joke. A _very_ stupid joke.” He tried again after some time.

Shrugging at the raven’s half-assed attempt, Naruto smiled triumphantly anyway. “See? Was that really so hard?”

Sasuke was about to throw rocks at him next when he made to move towards one of the apartment complexes. “Now wait here while I bring it out!”

 _Bring it out?_ The raven looked at him suspiciously. “Wait alone? Out here?”

“Scared, princess? Do you want to come with me instead?” Naruto teased childishly. It made the other bristle significantly.

He growled. “On second thought, if anything happens, you’ll have a pile of dead carcasses at your feet when you come back, jackass.”

“You’re so paranoid, Uchiha.” The blonde frowned, looking mildly disgusted at the thought of seeing corpses strewn all over his lawn. “Like I said earlier, if I wanted to ambush you, I would’ve done it already. Besides, I wouldn’t hurt a hair on your flawless rock star—and probably make-up covered—head as long as you’ve got those goldfish.”

Sasuke was about to snap back at him for the added details when he was reminded of said fish. He had almost forgotten about the prize Naruto won him and relaxed when he saw it in his hand. Seeing how ridiculously maternal blue-eyes acted towards them, despite hardly even knowing them, he wouldn’t doubt it was true. “Fine, just hurry up already, loser.” He grouched, and the blonde glared right back at him.

“Don’t tell me what to do, bastard!” he yelled indignantly before fumbling with the front door and promptly disappearing.

Even believing his companion’s words, Sasuke still felt immediate discomfort at his lack of presence and continuously darted his eyes all around, trying to subtly stay alert in case he had cronies with him who were ready to engage in combat anyway. But when two minutes had passed, and the only thing he could hear was Naruto’s loud shuffling, he relaxed, finally seeing the blonde tumble out with a box in his arms.

“These, I think, belong to you.” Naruto breathed, obviously having some difficulty carrying the thing. When Sasuke traded the fish for the box, he instantly understood why. It was full of new and shiny cellphones, accompanied by keys, purses, keychains, wallets, and other fancy metal-based gadgets. There were even some IDs in there and a couple of _Tasers_. When his eyes landed on Kiba’s sorry excuse of a wallet, Ino’s undeniable purse, Chouji’s thin wallet, and Shikamaru’s keys, he narrowed his eyes in understanding.

Naruto seemed like he was waiting for some visible form of gratitude, but Sasuke had other things in mind. “You lied to me.”

“Well, it’s not lying if you didn’t know about it—”

“I don’t care about this junk at all.” He said flatly.

Naruto looked taken aback. _“What?”_

Sasuke smirked. “You were wrong.”

Naruto seemed to get what was going on now and fumed. “Are you serious!? Are you just saying that to piss me off or—?”

“Nah, I genuinely could care less.” Just as Naruto was about to intervene however, Sasuke pulled the box out of his reach. “But sense I went through all the trouble, and I do have a sense of justice, I suppose I’ll give them back to their rightful owners.”

The wild-haired boy gave him a wary look. “I swear, Uchiha. If you rat me out, I’m stealing back those goldfish.”

Sasuke blinked, hardly glancing back at said organisms before realizing he had that sort of leverage. But then again, if Naruto was willingly giving him that sort of power, there had to be more to this. Why else would he give up his potential source of big bucks? “Why are you doing this?” the raven asked then, ignoring his previous threat.

The blonde looked a bit uncomfortable all of a sudden. “What do you mean?” He asked while dodging Sasuke’s gaze expertly. He shifted on his feet a little before kicking a rock and watching it blankly.

“Don’t play dumb with me. I know your type. You’re a low-key criminal. Why else would you steal all this stuff?”

Naruto smirked. “And the last turtle crosses the finish line.”

“But,” Sasuke responded sharply, catching the way the blonde’s smile instantly turned sour. “You’re giving up what you stole. Why?”

Naruto looked down at his feet then. He seemed to dwell on his answer before speaking. “I made you promise that I’d give you something for talking to me honestly and believe it or not, I like to keep my promises. I might steal but I keep my word.” Naruto answered softly, his voice gaining its edge towards the end. He looked up at Sasuke firmly then, and the raven felt a spark of respect for the blonde. He didn’t want to believe him, but he knew a liar when he saw one, and Naruto wasn’t one.

“You're weird.” Sasuke said simply, and Naruto scowled.

“That’s what I get for being open!? YOU BASTARD!!” the blonde growled, and Sasuke couldn’t help it. He laughed, one that was probably as geniune as he could give, and Naruto was suddenly stopped in his tracks, eyes wide and shocked by it. It was just so...different. He almost looked like a decent, nice little kid instead of the asshole he _knew_ he was. Feeling his own foul mood dissipate at the sight, he let out mumble instead about how insufferable the Uchiha was to keep up the act and in return the raven just snorted, having recovered from it.

“Can I go home now?”

Naruto tilted his head up thoughtfully for show before nodding. “Yeah, I want to get rid of you as soon as I can.”

When the Uchiha playfully whacked him with the hefty box, which successfully sent the blonde reeling to the side, the blonde yelped resentfully. “On second thought, you can rot out here!” Naruto wailed, and Sasuke smacked him again. “Ack! Okay, you got me! I was bluffing!! Just stop abusing me!!”

“That’s what I thought.” The raven replied smugly, and Naruto frowned, pouting until the Uchiha decided to take responsibility. He was not gonna submit without getting at least a little even first!

“I’m not gonna guide you anywhere until you help me up,” he grumbled childishly, crossing his arms as he sulked in his spot, his legs also crossed petulantly as the raven rolled his eyes and sighed. Conceding to the blonde’s terms, Naruto smiled happily before accepting his hand.

“Aaaaand, we’re moving!” the blonde shouted like a mock tour guide, practically prancing ahead as Sasuke trailed behind him with a small shake of his head.

 

* * *

 

After some bickering and a lot of stupid jokes on Naruto’s part, the hotel finally came into view and Sasuke could practically feel his entire body sigh with him in relief.

“See! I told you I knew where your hotel was!” the blonde chirped proudly, practically shining Sasuke into indifference.

Peeking down at his phone though, his mood suddenly lifted as he found a reason to rain on his parade and grinned. “Look at the time.” He instructed self-righteously and the blonde’s expression turned thoughtful.

“Huh?” Naruto was about to ask why when he actually saw it and everything just clicked. _Twelve-o-fucking eight._ “You gotta’ be kidding me! How did time fly by so fast!?!?” The blonde yelped, grabbing his ears and pulling on them fearfully. “Oh man, I’m gonna get so much shit for this,” he added, mumbling into his nails as Sasuke looked at him curiously but amusedly.

“You’re the worst knight I’ve ever met.” Sasuke declared, and he’d be lying if the face Naruto gave him wasn’t the most rewarding thing he’d seen all day.

Naruto bit back an indignant screech with a groan and Sasuke had to stifle a laugh of his own. “I’m pretty sure I’m the _only_ knight you’ve ever met!” he pointed out and Sasuke shrugged, walking backwards towards his hotel as Naruto shoved his hands in his pockets, sulkily following him close to the entrance before stopping.

“That’s dangerous,” Naruto informed and Sasuke simply smirked.

“Try to stop me then.” The raven could’ve sworn Naruto brightened up a little at that.

Chuckling, the blonde just shook his head. “I’d take it from you but…”

“Yeah.” Sasuke jumped in, understanding dawning on him as he remembered his need for staying hidden. Naruto looked back at him gratefully at that and nodded slowly.

“Well, I stop here.” Sasuke said then, suddenly feeling strange and slightly awkward. For the first time tonight, he had no idea what to say, and it left him scrambling for something he wasn’t quite sure he was looking for. Was it guilt? It kind of felt like it, but he knew it couldn’t be. This was different, and it made him feel oddly empty and lost. He hated the feeling and wondered why he didn’t just take advantage of the situation and just leave, like he’d wanted to since he got his phone back. It’s almost like he _didn’t_ want to leave anymore.

Maybe it was because for the first time in his life, he felt that he’d made a friend purely out of his own will, and not because of his status or connections. And while they had _met_ because of them, it wasn’t the cause for their unlikely friendship. It was something he hardly felt like he had with anyone outside of his circle in Konoha Productions, and he felt the need to preserve it somehow, but all he could do was stand there stiffly as Naruto and he spoke in secret behind the shrubs near the hotel and out of sight.

That was until the unusually quiet and sullen blonde broke the silence at last. “Hey, um…Sasuke, right?”

When the raven regarded him interestedly, he nodded and Naruto smiled back at him. It kinda’ made him want to smile too. “Thanks for not ratting me out or anything.” His tanned companion whispered softly, and Sasuke felt himself gulp.

“It’s not that big of a deal.” He reassured and Naruto gave him a lop-sided grin.

“Maybe not for you, but I’d rather avoid going back to juvenile jail…” Naruto laughed, looking down at his feet and Sasuke just knew he couldn’t let this go.

“You’re going to have to enlighten me and tell me what that’s like some other time then.” That’s when the blonde looked up swiftly then, eyes wide and a small smile forming over his whiskered cheeks in elation as he was met with a firmly smiling Sasuke.

He was insinuating there would _be_ a next time and the blonde’s smile could’ve knocked the sun right of the sky, no contest needed. “Yeah, I guess I will.” He beamed, and Sasuke felt good knowing he’d been the cause of it.

“You know where to find me better than I do,” the raven shrugged flippantly, and Naruto found himself laughing at that.

“Wow, so you _can_ make jokes without being a total asshole.” Naruto grinned and Sasuke only snorted.

“Don’t you start.” He grunted and the blonde giggled.

“I’ll see your sorry ass later then and try again tomorrow! I swear I’ll get that stick out of your ass before you’ve gone back home!” he professed loudly then, and Sasuke had to keep from smacking him with the box again.

“Don’t make me regret this, idiot,” the raven growled and Naruto dodged a kick from him laughing.

Running off, the blonde turned around to wave at him happily and yell a, “Bye, Sasuke!” before getting lost in the waves of people consuming Tokyo’s streets. The raven simply shook his head before turning around and sighing again, this time feeling about ten times lighter than before as he faced his next challenge. All he wanted was to get by unnoticed, take a nice long shower, and sleep in till ten. Whatever else there was that had to be done could wait until then.

Of course, he shouldn’t have expected to get by so simply because immediately upon entering through the automatic, glass doors, there was an ear-piecing shriek and about four pairs of feet thundering in his direction.

“Sasuke!” came the bombardment of voices and he found his band members come in to greet him in a mixture of relief and astonishment.

“Dude, what happened!?” Kiba called out, and Chouji followed him shortly, having bounded over only seconds after.

“Yeah! And where have you been, bro? It’s like ten o’ clock!” the keyboardist added hastily.

"Twelve." Sasuke corrected.

"Holy shit! Already??" Kiba cried out in bewilderment.

Ino had wrapped herself over Sasuke’s shoulders protectively, and Kiba, Chouji, and Shikamaru all stared at the cluttered box in his arms in confusion, before recognition lit up in their eyes.

“Hey, those are my keys.” Shikamaru mentioned, probably with more emotion and surprise than he’d ever expressed in his entire existence, before Kiba came chiming in too.

“Dude, you found my wallet!” the brunette gasped, before grinning and plunging forward to pick up the ratty thing.

“And mine too!!” Chouji cried, clearly impressed as Kiba passed him his belonging.

 “Oh my gosh!” Ino gasped before leaning in to squish her cheek against the raven’s in delight. “You found my purse!” the pale blonde squealed awestricken, jumping up as it was passed to her.

“Yeah, I’ve had probably the weirdest day of my life, but I think it’s all good now.” Sasuke admitted, and they all looked at him questioningly, seemingly unsatisfied by his answer. And maybe even more stupefied by Sasuke himself, causing him to simply look at them like _they_ were the strange ones. _Why are the staring at me like that? Do I have ramen on my face or something?_

“You seem oddly okay for having been missing all day,” Shikamaru pointed out, and the other three just nodded aggressively until Sasuke sighed wearily.

“Look, I’m tired. I just want to sleep and forget that this ever happened. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” Was the raven’s clipped reply, and he passed the heavy box to Kiba, who yelped and practically dropped four feet before heaving it back up just in time to scarcely miss hitting the ground. “And make sure to pass this around to the staff. They’ll probably need their stuff back.”

Kiba blinked incredulously at the raven along with Chouji and Ino as he made his way over to the shimmering elevator. “Hey! What about this, huh? I wanna know how you managed to find all this stuff!” the drummer whined and both Ino and Chouji were in obvious agreement again but the Uchiha just disregarded them.

“Good night,” he called back loudly with a backwards wave of his hand, and Kiba instantly frowned, watching him as he whistled and disappeared behind brass doors.

“What’s gotten into him?” Ino questioned and Kiba simply huffed, shuffling the box over to Shikamaru, who seemed the least worried out of the quartet.

“Maybe there isn’t anything wrong with him and you three are just being too nosy.” The dull-eyed brunette reasoned, gaining the instant favour of Kakashi as he slipped by.

“I see Mr. Grumpy Grumps is back, and he seems to be not so grumpy. Maybe he was never lost to begin with?” Kakashi supplied helpfully and Shikamaru eyed him interestedly. The other three, on the other hand seemed even more skeptical than before.

Ino didn’t seem to agree. “I expected him to be ten times angrier than this. _And_ Sasuke _never_ willingly plays hooky of his own accord. He’s always so…you know!” the baby-blue eyed girl gestured with her hands, hoping that made more sense in describing the raven’s perfect-soldier attitude.

The caramel headed boy had to side with her on this one. “Yeah, If he really hadn’t been lost, why was he gone for so long? And without telling anyone?”

 “Maybe he wanted to surprise everyone,” Kakashi shrugged as he picked out a handful of things out of the box that were obviously his, including a hand gun which he shoved in his back pocket, which made Kiba squeak before tripping back into Yamato.

“What’s going on? Did I just see Sasuke walk past while whistling to _I’m walking on Sunshine_ after being MIA all day?” the brunette assistant squinted, still not quite over his hangover, it would seem. When Kakashi ruffled his hair like a child, he almost tipped over Kiba from losing his balance, making Kiba screech again before Ino came to his aid and pushed the brunette over. The pale blonde shot the older man a stern look and he simply gave her his usual, but devious one-eye-upward grin.

“Yup, Sasuke’s been acting strange since he got here.” Chouji confirmed and Yamato hummed.

“Maybe he met a girl? He seems awfully cheery.”

Instantly, Ino was all over him. “WHAT!?” she screamed and Yamato hunched over to cover his ears, moaning about his headache. Shikamaru placed a hand over his shoulder to calm her down before she made their poor assistant manager pass out.

“That would explain why he was gone so long,” Chouji agreed, and Ino held her hand to her chest dramatically, like she was having a heart attack.

“NO! I WON’T ALLOW IT!” the pale blonde cried, and Kiba just gave her half-hearted pats to her back in attempt to console her.

When the blonde sniffled dramatically, Kiba groaned too. “I don’t want to fight over Sasuke’s best friend status over again. Me and Ino already do that!” he stated, and Ino nodded enthusiastically back before Chouji passed her a box of tissues. When she blew her nose into the entire box instead, Kakashi simply sighed.

“Hey, I was just messing with you guys. You know Sasuke, that’s not like him.” Yamato amended nervously.

Giving them all a calm look, Kakashi tipped his head over wearily. “You guys should just trying asking Sasuke about it later. I’m sure he’ll be willing to relay the whole thing once he’s gotten some proper rest, which you all should be doing as well. We’ve wasted an entire day already so we’re already behind schedule, so off the bed with you all.” Kakashi mothered, shooing them off as they all scampered away suspiciously.

“Tired my ass, Sasuke better have a good explanation for this!” Kiba wailed before mumbling something along the lines of, “…making me worry, that asshat!”

“Kiba, you were gone almost as long as he was,” The Nara reminded, and the tattooed brunette grumbled indignantly.

“THIS ISN’T ABOUT ME, SHIKAMARU!”

“At this rate, no one’s getting any sleep,” Yamato groused and Kakashi just smiled at him, offering him more coffee that he took gratefully.

 

* * *

 

As Sasuke sat down on his bed after his long shower, he sighed contentedly, enjoying the hot steam roll off his shoulders from the nice warmth of the shower. The water pressure had been just what he needed to relax his tired muscles and he felt himself wipe away at some water with the towel around his neck offhandedly.

Padding over to the giant bed, the day continued to replay in his mind continuously before his thoughts stopped on Naruto’s curious answer to why he’d given up on what he’d stolen. It was just really strange, and it still bothered him to think back on it…sure he believed his answer, that wasn’t what he had his qualms with, but what was so suspicious about it was why he’d even propose giving it up in the first place.

He’d dodged the answer pretty well, insisting that it was because he always kept his word, but that really wasn’t answering his question now that he’d thought it over once more. It had merely distracted Sasuke from it.

 _So then…why?_ As he toweled his head listlessly, he back-tracked. _Well, think about it Sasuke. Why did he suggest it in the first place?_

That was easy. He remembered that clearly. It was to— _Oh_ … _It was to get to know me_.

Suddenly, Sasuke felt his nerves jumble up again. Had Naruto really just given up his source of income to get to know a stranger better? But why?

Instead of resolving his question, he had succeeded in conjuring up way more now than he had started off with, and he huffed in frustration, falling back into the luxurious bed aggravated. His eyes happened to catch a glimpse of the four little fish Naruto had gifted him as well and he felt his stomach do the same thing all over again. Sure, he’d managed to slip them by without anyone noticing with them tied under his belt, but it just made him wonder over his newfound friend and odd kindness once again.

He was going to have to ask him about all of it the next time they met, because there was no way he was going to let the blonde know all his secrets without at least figuring out some of his own first.

With that circling in his mind, the raven managed to fall asleep that night easily with a certain wild-haired blonde in his thoughts and with a new resolve to match.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *sniffs the air* I smell a crush coming. Everyone, prepare yourselves!


End file.
